Spring 15, Issue 3

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Issue 3, Vol. CXXXIII, February 23, 2015

Reflections on Vietnam Joseph Barkoff

Sports Photo Editor Private First Class Bruce Thompson, 10 Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, proudly received a letter around Thanksgiving 1967 from President Lyndon B. Johnson. The letter said “greetings” and informed Thompson to report for induction into the Army Dec. 7.

After completing basic training and jump school, Thompson went home for Christmas and broke his jaw. With his injury he could no longer make the jump out of an airplane, so he was re-assigned to tank school.

In the Navy Hospital in New York with a broken jaw. Thompson was surrounded by 800 broken Marines, home from Vietnam.

He remembers telling his girlfriend he would never be like them. He was in the Army; it was different.

Thompson, like a lot of young men and women, was drafted into service for the ongoing Vietnam conflict, with no idea of the personal repercussions of war, or the unwelcome response he and other vets would receive upon their homecoming.

“Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” That is the motto worn on t-shirts, bumper stickers and in the hearts of all who had the unfortunate experience of witnessing the Vietnam War. That motto is perpetuated in Jill KellyMoore’s humanities course on American culture in which she immerses students in a debate that has raged on campus for 10 years now. The debate has been going on for longer, but Kelly-Moore brings a unique experience for every

student brave, lucky and caring enough to engage in it.

“I do it for them [the veterans],” KellyMoore said. “It is the vets’ show, and the students must participate.”

Kelly-Moore split the class in half. One side is pro-war, one is anti-war and, for the purposes of the class, the student’s actual feelings don’t matter. Like any debate or critical thinking process, students must research their assigned tasks with the goal to present the delegated side of the argument.

It’s a unique educational experience because, unlike any other part of the curriculum, real Vietnam veterans judge the debate.

In the weeks before the debate, the veterans spend a class period sharing their experiences about the war and their trip back home after their own one-year tour.

Kelly-Moore’s exercise helps both parties involved. The vets benefit by being able to speak about their plight and the students learn from the vets’ first-hand experiences the truth of war. Both benefit because the injustice is shared, like a burden, but a burden of knowledge granting those involved the wisdom to not careen down the same path and repeat history.

For the vets, every new branch of memories and experiences they share with students is a release that lightens the load they carry.

“In basic training, we used to march to the beer hall. In Airborne AIT we would jog to the beer hall, and in tank training we used to take the beer with us,” Thompson said, offering a brief moment of

Joseph Barkoff / Oak Leaf

Bruce Thompson reads from his manual the defintion of a free fire zone, describing his tour of duty in Vietnam for Jill Kelly-Moore’s humanities class Nov. 11 at SRJC.

levity before reading from the Field Manual the definition of his new home.

A “free fire zone” is a little place in hell.

The manual states a free fire zone ”is an American military term used to designate and define a geographical area in which all life is considered the enemy. Any humans or animals in this zone are fair game for all of the organic weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces, and are destroyed immediately upon detection. Plant and marine life are also considered hostile and subject to repeated defoliation by Agent Orange and other toxic chemicals.”

Early in his tour, sitting atop his APC, Thompson saw a Vietnamese man get up and run from cover. He took aim, followed the target and did what he was trained to do. “Bam! You could almost see the bullet go. Hit the guy in the back as he’s running and his arms go out and his head goes back and he plops down on the ground. He bounced once,” Thompson said.

If the man was Viet Cong, Thompson’s platoon would find his AK-47 rifle laying where he ran from. If he was a farmer just trying to sneak back into his ancestral homeland, the platoon would find nothing. The 10th Cavalry would still place an AK rifle next to the dead Vietnamese man and take a Polaroid. They were to document every kill they made. The war was about body count, Thompson explained.

To make camp in the free fire zone, the squad would all fire their weapons facing out in a circle for a minute, ceasing at the

Page 15

BSU hosts ‘Black Lives Matter’ JoshuOne Barnes Investigative Reporter A Black Lives Matter panel offered solutions on community policing including police wearing mandatory body cameras and increased public oversight Feb. 19 in the Bertolini Student center.

Lenita Marie Johnson moderated the panel and included leaders from the legal and law enforcement community. A diverse gathering of Santa Rosa Junior College students, administrators, community members and two SRJC Board of Trustee members attended the event, hosted by the SRJC Black Student Union.

Bay Area reggae artist Sky I opened the panel with his song, “Can’t Blame The Youths,” a tribute to 13-year-old Andy Lopez, whom a Sonoma County Sheriff ’s deputy shot seven times in October 2013.

After the performance, there was a discussion about how to combat the police’s apparent lack of respect to black, brown and poor youths.

“Police in this country shoot and kill civilians, particularly black males, in far too high of numbers,” Johnson said. “All of those in law enforcement must be honest enough to admit that much of our history is not pretty.”

Johnson asked the panelists why they had decided to join the panel and discuss what he called “the American legacy called racism.”

Panelist Jeanne Buckley, retired Superior Court Commissioner and member of the Sonoma County Community and Local Law Enforcement Task Force, said that due to the proliferation of cameras, both on the police and the public, there is a much better view of what is happening in our communities.

“Now that the officers have cameras and people with their cellphones have cameras, we can see what we’ve been talking about for years and years and years and years. And it’s kind of nice to know that we haven’t been crazy all this time,” Buckley said.

Brien Farrell, another panelist who sits on the Task Force, said the community’s

Continued on page 2

Continued on page 10

Mrs. Holzworth found guilty Jury convicts the wife of former SRJC District Police officer who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of student parking money.

Continued on page NEWS, Page104

Do the shoes really Tragedy and hope: make the man?

A story of recovery

Santa Rosa custom shoe designer “The Shoe Surgeon” nips and tucks ordinary shoes into beautiful footwear worn by top celebrities.

Continued on page FEATURES, Page1010

The Oak Leaf ’s own Haley Bollinger shares her experiences of hitting rock bottom and facing addiction.

Continued on page 1013 OPINION, Page

Drew Sheets/ Oak Leaf

Pastor H. Lee Turner joins the panel because he has a heart for people and the community.

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News

February 23, 2015

2

BSU hosts ‘Black Lives Matter’

JoshuOne Roots-Barnes/ Oak Leaf

Members of the Sonoma County community gather to discuss recent killings of unarmed black men and the Black Lives Matter movement Feb. 19 at an event hosted by the SRJC Black Student Union.

Continued from cover... participation is essential. “We need community engagement if there’s going to be the kind of community policing that I think will lead to changes,” Farrell said.

Gail Flatt, a Santa Rosa attorney, said she accepted the invitation because she had strong feelings about the issue and wanted to be part of the dialogue.

SRJC district police chief Matt McCaffrey said he joined the panel to share with the public law enforcement’s perspective.

Santa Rosa attorney Nancy Palandati said she was there to talk about the elephant in the room, which she said was that we are not post-racial, post-racist or colorblind.

“This country was founded on racism and it is still racist and we need to keep talking and listening to one another, and that’s why I’m here,” Palandati said.

Carolyn VanDyk, another Santa Rosa attorney, said she was there because it was important to discuss these issues with people who don’t experience what the black community experiences every day.

Pastor H. Lee Turner said he joined the panel because he has a heart for people and has a heart to see this community be

the best it can be. “It is time to get past the talking and get to the doing,” Turner said.

Johnson asked the panelists if they were surprised by an incident reported in the Oak Leaf in which members of the SRJC BSU encountered racial slurs and physical aggression by white patrons of the Double Decker bowling alley in Rohnert Park. Police who responded to the incident treated BSU members with a lack of respect. The panelists all said that the incident did not surprise them.

Buckley and Farrell shared some of the recommendations they are making to the Task Force. Farrell said they are looking at recommendations to change the use of force policies, detailed community policing projects and changing the training of police officers and sheriff ’s deputies to bring about the positive change so many voices are calling for.

Farrell requested that the public attend and advocate for the Task Force’s recommendations when the county Board of Supervisors meets to vote on adopting their findings in May. The panel then opened up the discussion to the public and for the next two hours, speaker after speaker

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voiced concerns with the status quo and questioned the panelists on their thoughts about how to make sure black lives truly do matter.

For many speakers, it was a rare opportunity to address the police chief, who fielded many questions about policy and prejudice within his department and the Sonoma County Sheriff ’s Department where McCaffrey served for 29 years.

Jordan McGowan, former Bear Cub and now teacher and head football coach at San Juan High School in Sacramento, addressed the panel and asked why police officers use violent force against people of color who commit nonviolent crimes.

McCaffrey said the resistance to police authority is a leading driver of use of force by police. If someone submits to arrest, there is very little chance the officer involved will use excessive force.

Buckley added that it is often the way police are trained that leads to an officer skipping all of the less lethal or violent tactics to gain compliance and going straight for the deadliest of force to exert their authority over a noncompliant individual.

SRJC Board of Trustees member Jordan Burns attended the event Photographers JoshuOne Barnes Madison Anuskewicz Carin Huber Craig Gettman Catherine Ramirez

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community members might reduce the tension between the public and the police. “I am much more likely to treat you badly if I don’t know you. Once I get to know you, we have something in common, I know you as a human being, I am much more likely to treat you with respect and dignity and as a human being regardless of your race, gender or anything else,” McCaffrey said.

“If I don’t know somebody, I give them respect until I do know them,” Turner countered.

SRJC Police Chief Matt McCaffrey gives law enforcement’s perspective on issues.

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Investigative Reporter JoshuOne Barnes

and said he was encouraged by the discussion. “It’s a really good panel,” Burns said. “There is still a lot of tension. These are ongoing issues.We need more discussion.”

Bill Clark, a retired Sonoma State professor, said it is important to get people involved, and added that there are two sides to every story.

Clark noted that no one from the Rohnert Park Police Department was on that panel, and their involvement would be necessary to enact change in their department.

McCaffrey said knowing the

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News

February 23, 2015

3

Whistleblowers say their careers are in ruins JoshuOne Barnes

Investigative Reporter When Santa Rosa District Police whistleblowers Vanessa Spaeth and Josh Richards reported finding child porn on a fellow employee’s personal thumb drive, they figured they were doing the right thing. Nearly a year later, both say their careers have been deliberately ruined, and had they known the personal and professional retaliation they have faced since whistleblowing, they would not have alerted the school to what they believed was gross incompetence and illegal behavior on the part of Santa Rosa Junior College District Police employees.

The trouble began when Spaeth and Richards discovered a thumb drive at the district police headquarters containing dozens of graphic images of child pornography.

Spaeth reported the incident to her boss and an investigation was launched to determine where the thumb drive came from.

Lt. Dave Willat, according to Richards, began the investigation.

Police Chief Matt McCaffrey abruptly ended that first investigation and the college hired an outside investigator to look into the incident.

Private investigator Chris Reynolds looked into allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation against Spaeth, Richards and another district employee, Wendy Wasik. Reynolds has concluded his investigation and found that no harassment or retaliation occurred.

According to Reynold’s report, there was no credible evidence supporting the allegations of sexual harassment that anyone intentionally

exposed Spaeth, Richards or Wasik to the graphic images.

Further, Reynolds found that after viewing videotapes of interactions between Spaeth and other employees in the police department, no retaliation had occurred.

The SRJC Board of Trustees accepted this finding and officials have used it, according to Spaeth, to try to force the disaffected employees to accept the school’s reassignment.

Both Richards and Spaeth were dispatchers when the incident began and said their doctors have told them the SRJC District Police environment was a threat to their health; they have been on sick leave.

During their leaves, Richards and Spaeth have had their temporary replacements’ pay deducted from their benefits in accordance with labor agreements with the college.

Richard’s leave has ended and all of his benefits have been exhausted as of the end of January. SRJC has not tried to reassign him. Richards said his health issues prevent him from returning to the police and this was his chosen career.

Richards said college officials have not acknowledged that his medical leave is due to the hostile work environment. “All my doctors are like, this is all work related,” Richards said. “My doctor says I cannot return, and there’s not a job to go back to.”

The school has agreed to give Richards a settlement of $15,000 in exchange for him to drop a Workers Compensation claim that Richards has against the district. The Workers Compensation board approved the settlement on Feb. 10.

“It’s very odd how they can just go ahead and come up with $15,000 and say, ‘Here, we’re paying for

Photo courtesy of ABC 7 News

SRJC District Police officers Vanessa Spaeth (far left) and Josh Richards (middle) share their story on ABC 7 News.

all this, but yet we don’t have any information on you, we don’t believe you have a complaint because we denied it, but yet we are still paying,’” Richards said.

According to Spaeth, since September 2014, SRJC’s administration has been attempting to force her to take a demotion in benefits and a reassignment to the kinesiology department. This move would put Spaeth on probation, risking immediate termination for any number of arbitrary reasons.

Spaeth said the college would not even have to give a reason for terminating her while on probation.

Spaeth said some of her friends in law enforcement have shunned her since she came forward to report finding the thumb drive that contained the illegal graphic

material.

Documents shared with the Oak Leaf show that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that protects worker’s rights, has launched investigations into SRJC’s employment practices. The EEOC declined to share specifics of the investigations into SRJC’s handling of employees.

Spaeth said her understanding is the EEOC is concerned with the college’s attempts to force employees to waive rights to legal actions against the school.

Dr. Frank Chong, SRJC president, refused to make any statements about either the allegations or the fallout from Spaeth’s and Richard’s complaints. Dr. Chong referred all questions on the matter to Pat

Wilson, legal counsel for the school.

Karen Furukawa, vice president of human resources, also requested that questions be directed to the school’s attorney.

Wilson refused to share any information that hasn’t already been released or that is still awaiting clearance for release in compliance with California Public Records Act requests the Oak Leaf filed.

SRJC Board of Trustees member Jordan Burns refused to comment on any specifics of the case, saying it is an ongoing investigation. Burns did say that people should feel safe to raise a red flag when they encounter illegal behavior.

“Whistleblowing policies are in place for a reason. People shouldn’t fear reporting something that is wrong or illegal,” Burns said.

SRJC honors the contributions of women leaders in history

On the same day KC Greaney, SRJC director of institutional research, will present the history of Staff Writer women faculty members at SRJC at Noticing the absence of the the Mahoney Library on the Petaachievements of women in school luma campus. textbooks, the National Women’s Rita Lackey and Friends, an allHistory Project (NWHP), founded in women band, will be playing R&B, Santa Rosa, led a campaign in 1987 jazz, blues and pop on the SRJC camto declare March National Women’s pus on March 4, which Findling said History Month. she was probably the most excited Since then, Santa Rosa Junior Colfor. lege has hosted a month of events The entertainment continues on during March to bring awareness March 5 on the Petaluma campus to the struggles women face around where instructor Alice Roberti will the world and to celebrate women’s lead a discussion after a film screening of “Iron-Jawed Angels,” a story about the triumph of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns who pushed to give women the right to vote.

Findling noted how we often don’t recognize powerful women in history, which is why a month honoring their contributions is so important.

“Alice Paul did some really brave things to help women get the right to vote, and she was written out of history,” she said.

Laura Larqué, SRJC history instructor, also plans to speak about a powerful woman in history who is not widely recognized: Tina MoCourtesy of Susan Kaye dotti. On March 23 in the Doyle liRita Lackey and Friends, a Bay Area funk band, will be performing live at brary Larqué will discuss the life of Bertolini Student Center on March 4 as part of Women’s History Month.

Modotti, an Italian immigrant who Maci Martell

accomplishments in history that are often overlooked.

“Powerful women, and especially women of color, are not included in our history books,” said Rhonda Findling, Extended Opportunities Program & Services (EOPS) counselor and long-time Women’s History Month coordinator.

SRJC is kicking off the month with a lecture on Iranian-American women writers and the importance of literature in humanity, hosted by San Jose State University professor Persis Karim in the Newman auditorium March 2.

defied the oppressive and patriarchal social norms of the 1920s.

Larqué also plans to discuss the women involved in the Chicano Civil Rights movement on March 9 in the Doyle library. She will discuss prominent women leaders such as union organizer Emma Tenayuca and Anna Nieto-Gómez, founder of the feminist newspaper Hijas de Cuauhtémoc.

Larqué is excited to share the important contributions of female leaders within the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. “There were many [female leaders] who have been historically ignored by society and by the same Chicano community,” she said.

SRJC history instructor Allison Baker will continue a dialogue on the Chicana feminist movement, focusing on the roles of women in unions and art culture presented on March 25 in the Call building on the Petaluma campus.

EOPS counselor Erlinda Peraza will discuss the ever-present “rape culture” in today’s society March 24 in the Center for Student Leadership.

The discussion will include the issue of sexual assault on college campuses, the objectifying of women in media and the overall aggression aimed towards women across the nation.

SRJC psychology instructor Nar-

meen Nasseem will present a lecture on the patriarchy in modern Islam and the roles of women within this society on March 26 in the Doyle Library.

The month will end with Findling and EOPS Outreach Specialist Rafael Vázquez’s lecture and discussion on the treatment of women in Central America to be presented on March 30 in the Doyle Library.

The lecture will focus on the femicide in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, where violence against women has hit record levels with little to no prosecution, according to Findling.

“The goal of this discussion is for people to walk away with a new understanding of the challenges that women in [Latin America] face on a daily basis,” Vázquez said. “We hope that this conversation will be the beginning of a full understanding of the pain we have caused countless women and children in [Latin America].”

With a wide array of events put on by the SRJC Women’s History Month Committee, there’s sure to be an event for everybody. “We try to feature a diversity of events that really reflects our students,” Findling said. “We want to provide role models for our students.”

4

News

February 23, 2015

Self-evaluation forum at SRJC Matthew Koch Staff Writer The Accrediting Committee for Commercial and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), consisting of 14 members, is coming to Santa Rosa Junior College in March to review anything and everything having to do with the college’s curriculum to see if SRJC meets four main standards in their external evaluation reports.

“Each team member has a specialty in a given area or field,” said Mary Kay Rudolph, senior vice president of academic affairs and accreditation liaison officer.

On Tuesday, March 10, from 3 to 4 p.m., and Wednesday, March 11, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Doyle Library, room 4245, four members of the ACCJC will visit SRJC to answer questions about SRJC’s upcoming self-evaluation report, which consists of four standards.

Simultaneously, on both days, a video conference will be held in the Call Building, room 640.

Standard I carries out a mission statement which ensures effective institutional activity planning, data analysis incorporation and an evaluation on the school’s overall progress.

Standard II encompasses instructional programs, student support services and library and learning support services, which covers student learning programs and services.

Standard III focuses on human, physical, technology and financial resources. The standard seeks to maintain an effective system in each department by establishing guidelines on faculty conduct, resource use, program planning and budget development policies.

Standard IV evaluates the decision-making process involved in supervising the governance of faculty, staff and administrators.

Faculty, staff and students may attend, but it is assumed those with questions will have read the report, located at accreditation. santarosa.edu.

Already, SRJC has undergone several critical changes to its technological resources, such as the planning website and the accreditation website, now more user friendly.

Staying an accredited junior college is serious when it comes to the students’ futures. Only once a school is accredited can students add such a place of academic prestige to their resumes and gain access to federal aid. No accreditation means no federal aid.

“It is very important that faculty be equally involved,” said Wanda Burzycki, the faculty accreditation co-chair.

In 2013, every committee member wrote a draft for the report, which has taken approximately two years to finalize.

The accreditation final summary is more of a “snapshot” into the school’s progress thus far. It has already gone through many changes, as it is constantly evolving.

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Jury finds Karen Holzworth guilty Candler Weinberg, Luke Heslip, Dylan Grise, and Faith Gates

Upon cross examination, Ariyoshi pointed out that Karen’s cash bank deposits did not decline during Staff Writers and News Editor/ September, 2012 when the bingo games she called were on hiatus.

Managing Editor Instead she deposited $1,700 in cash.

A Sonoma County jury found Kar- Nor did they drop off during two en Holzworth, wife of former Santa periods of unemployment.

Rosa Junior College parking officer “Mrs. Holzworth’s deposits are in Jeffrey Holzworth, guilty on Feb. 11 of no way misleading,” Boisseau said in being an accessory to grand theft and his closing arguments. “If you look at receiving stolen property. She faces up Mrs. Holzworth’s account, nothing to three-and-a-half years in prison. jumps out. She is a person who put Jeffrey Holzworth had worked as an hard-earned money in the bank.”

SRJC police officer for 28 years before Karen and Jeffrey Holzworth met he was caught in November 2012 and in 1989 and married in 1992, when convicted last spring of embezzling he was already an SRJC police officer. $286,000 from SRJC campus parking According to Karen Holzworth, Jefmachines. He was sentenced to four frey Holzworth was cheating on her years in prison in May 2014. when they first started dating; she District Attorney Amy Ariyoshi discovered another affair in 2005, and rested her case on Feb. 5 after tes- endured additional marital problems timony from SRJC and Santa Rosa along the way.

Police Department officers involved When Boisseau asked why she in trailing Jeffrey Holzworth for sev- stayed with him, Karen Holzworth eral weeks and searching his home, said, “I have a daughter. I needed to be resulting in finding $10,212.88 in with my daughter. I decided to put my the Holzworth’s kitchen, bedroom, happiness on hold.” garage, attic and crawlspace. Karen’s She moved out from February to boss and a bank teller who reported August of 2008 because the relationon Karen’s numerous cash bank de- ship was “so bad.” posits also testified.

Karen HolzDefense attorney worth said she George Boisseau went into “She knew beyond never started his case Feb. the attic and never 9 with Karen Holz- reasonable doubt that opened the cabiworth’s family and in the garage she was helping her nets friends testifying where officers husband embezzle found bags of curand finished with Karen Holzworth She said on money from SRJC.” rency. herself taking the record that she had stand. no idea Jeffrey Hol- Amy Ariyoshi, Karen Holzworth zworth was stealtestified she didn’t ing money from District Attorney know her husband SRJC for more than was stealing from seven years.

SRJC. She said their In July 2012, she marriage was troubled and they did caught Jeffrey with a bag of currency. not have a relationship outside their “I had come home in the afternoon, daughter. Her multiple cash deposits went into the bedroom and I saw a came from bingo tips, her brother’s canvas bag of money and asked Jeff, paying her back in cash for a loan and ‘What the hell?’ Jeffrey responded gambling winnings, she said. with, ‘It’s not what you think,’” KarKaren Holzworth said she didn’t de- en said. “I believed he had integrity. clare any of her gambling winnings or He was a sworn officer. I never wonbingo tips in her tax returns. dered if he was taking money.”

Asked to account for the consisAriyoshi questioned Karen about tently high cash deposits, Karen Hol- the nature of the phone calls bezworth said, “I know what I did in my tween her and Jeffrey while he was account. I don’t know what Jeff did.” in jail. Ariyoshi asked why in the She said they didn’t discuss finances first phone call, at no point did and their money was mostly separate. Karen ask him why he was in jail, “It was my money,” she said. despite the fact he claimed he was in

Photo courtesy of Facebook in a 2011 photo

Karen and Jeffrey Holzworth were both found guitly and sentenced to jailtime.

“big trouble.”

Karen Holzworth testified that she didn’t ask her husband exactly why he had been arrested in their jailhouse phone calls. “He was not always the most truthful person to me,” she said.

Ariyoshi also asked why Karen seemed to be concerned about her “losing everything” in a phone call. Karen Holzworth testified that although they were separated and essentially roommates, she was still concerned about family-related assets because they were still married and had children.

In the second call, Jeffrey Holzworth said, “You knew but you told me to stop doing it and I didn’t listen.” Later he said again that it’s all on him, with Karen responding, “Yeah but I knew about it. Doesn’t that make it on me, too?”

Karen testified the statement was based on her knowledge from what the police had told her and that she was so angry she would have said anything. When asked again, she said her comments were made in reference to her daughter, whom police contacted after Jeffrey Holzworth’s arrest. She said her comments were about the effects her husband’s arrest would have on her daughter.

In the third phone call, she asked, “Do you have anything I don’t know about…besides all those f-ing bags they took? Do you have separate accounts?” Pressed by Ariyoshi, Karen said she was just freaked out from the events and would have said anything.

Two of Karen’s brothers, Michael Chole and Richard Chole, testified Feb. 9 that they had borrowed money from Karen Holzworth ever since their mom died in 2001. Michael Chole said he had borrowed around $20,000 from Karen Holzworth between 2001-2012

while Richard Chole borrowed $8,000 in 2001 and paid it all back in a year.

“We saw Karen as a continuation of ‘The Bank of Eileen,’ which is what we called our mom,” Richard Chole said.

Both brothers said they paid Karen Holzworth back in cash sometimes, which Boisseau tried to use to explain the cash deposits in her bank account, although Karen admitted she didn’t keep records of these payments.

Both brothers were aware of the apparent relationship problems between Karen and Jeffrey Holzworth. Michael Chole and his daughters moved in with the Holzworths from April to December 2009 but said he never saw cash lying around.

Karen Holzworth’s friends and colleagues also testified Feb. 6 about her apparent marital problems and her character. Her old boss Trevor Thurston said he was aware of her marital problems since 2008 because she would show up to work crying.

“She’s always someone I could call and talk to and always keep it to herself,” Thurston said.

Karen Holzworth’s friends Ingridt Linde and Mary Pennington testified that Karen Holzworth is a truthful and understanding person.

“Karen is probably the most truthful person I know. I know she can be counted on. I know she can be trusted,” Pennington said.

The jury deliberated about a day before deciding on the guilty verdict.

“I think the jury did the right thing,” Ariyoshi said. “[Karen] knew beyond reasonable doubt that she was helping her husband embezzle money from SRJC.” Boisseau declined to comment.

Karen Holzworth remains free on bail until her sentencing on March 26.

recommended applications during its March 10 meeting, meeting the two-month deadline.

SRJC received funds back in 2002 when Sonoma County passed Measure A. Measure A also required an oversight committee; this new committee will provide combined oversight over Measures A and H funds.

Part of the first wave of applicants will be appointed for one-year terms, while the rest will be appointed for full two-year terms.

After completion of one year, they will be able to reapply for a twoyear position.

The citizen’s committee will consist of a single representative from certain demographics, including senior

citizens, SRJC students, taxpayers’ association, business community and the SRJC Foundation. The student representative serves a oneyear term.

The CBOC meets twice a year to discuss the school’s Measure H expenditures.

Current members of the Measure A CBOC seeking to be part of the combined committee must fill out a new application to be considered.

Applications may be downloaded online on santarosa.edu or by calling Erin Magee, Dr. Chong’s assistant at 707-527-4431.

Completed applications should be mailed to the office of the president or sent to emagee@santarosa.edu.

SRJC calls upon citizens to oversee bonds Pio Valenzuela Staff Writer

The Santa Rosa Junior College Board of Trustees began accepting applications for the Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) early this month to oversee the spending of Measure H funds; but hurry, applicants should submit their bids no later than Feb. 26 to be considered.

The college increased its debt by $410 million after Measure H passed on Nov. 4 last year through general obligation bonds. These funds are meant to improve SRJC’s infrastructure, construct and renovate buildings and modernize

the school for the 21st century.

The CBOC is a way to ensure the fair and legal use of the bond money, which is ultimately the public’s money.

Dr. Frank Chong, president of SRJC, will be one of those influencing applicants’ eligibility.

“The Board Facilities Committee and I review the applications and send our recommendations to the Board of Trustees,” Chong said.

Measure H’s text states the Board of Trustees must create an oversight committee “no later than 60 days after the Board enters the election results in its minutes.”

The board approved the results of last year’s November election on Jan. 13 and will review

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Sports

February 23, 2015

Meet the Hills:

5

SRJC Sports Calendar Twin Bear Cub pitchers with an unbreakable bond SSScoreboardw

Baseball Feb. 26 at Sacramento – 2 p.m.

March 3 at Cosumnes River – 2 p.m.

March 5 vs. Diablo Valley – 2 p.m.

Softball Feb. 24 at Shasta – 2 p.m.

March 7 vs. Cosumnes River – noon and 2 p.m.

March 10 vs. San Joaquin Delta – 3 p.m.

Joseph Barkoff/Oak Leaf

Left: Garret Hill cocks his arm to unleash the ball against Solano batters Feb. 19 at Sypher Field. Right: Evan Hill sends bb’s across the plate against Contra Costa in long relief Feb. 17 at Sypher Field. The Hill brothers have been together throughout their athletic careers. Now they both pitch for the Bear Cubs.

Anthony Sosa

Men’s Tennis

Staff Writer

Feb. 27 at American River – 1 p.m.

March 3 vs. Shasta – 1 p.m.

March 6 vs. Diablo Valley – 1 p.m.

Women’s Tennis Feb. 24 vs. Sierra – 1 p.m.

Feb. 27 at American River – 1 p.m.

March 3 vs. Shasta – 1 p.m.

Men’s Golf Feb. 24 vs. Folsom Lake in Windsor – noon Feb. 26 Big 8 Tournament #4 in South Rancho Murieta – 11:30 a.m.

March 3 Big 8 Tournament #5 in Sacramento – 11:30 a.m.

Track and Field Feb. 25-27 Chico Multi in Chico – all day Feb.

28 DeAnza Invite Cupertino – 9 a.m.

in

March 7 Beaver Relays Sacramento – 9 a.m.

in

Swim and Dive Feb. 27 Los Rios Invitational – Swimming at Sac City; Diving at American River, Sacramento – all day March 6-7 Cuesta Invitational – San Luis Obispo – Cuesta College – all day March 13 Big 8 Invitational – Swimming at American River, Sacramento; Dive at Delta, Stockton – all day

S

uccessful sport teams are usually brought together by teammates who get along so well they form a bond similar to brotherhood. For Garrett and Evan Hill of the Santa Rosa Junior College baseball team, that brotherhood is real.

The Hills are not only brothers, but also identical twins.

Garrett and Evan are both Bear Cub pitchers. Being identical twins makes it difficult for the average person to tell them apart. On the mound, though, it is clear to see which Hill is which, Garrett is right-handed while Evan is left-handed.

The Hills started playing baseball

at age 8. “We have played on the same team together our whole life,” Garrett said.

Over the past 11 years they have gone through little league, high school and college baseball together. “It’s awesome [having Garrett on the team] because I always have my best friend with me; we’ve been playing baseball together since we were very young and to play it at the college level together is great,” Evan said.

On any team it’s valuable for a player to have a teammate they can go to for help. “It helps a lot [having Garrett on the team] because he can give me feedback about how I do, and what I need to do to get better,” Evan said.

The Hills lean on each other when one needs a tip or help on the mound.

“I always try to push him [Evan] to be

better and he does the same for me,” Garrett said. “He points things out that will help me do a better job. One game my shoulder was flying open and I was rushing to the plate; he came up and said to me that I need to stay closed for a little while longer, which is super helpful.”

So far this season the Hills have been successful on the mound. The two have combined to pitch 23 and two-thirds innings, allowing only one earned run. In seven appearances the two pitchers have produced three wins for the Bear Cubs.

Along with playing baseball, the twins joke with each other on the field, often getting the rest of the team laughing. “The team thinks it’s cool to have twins on the team, since I am right-handed and Evan is left-handed;

it’s like having a mirror image,” Garrett said.

Outside of the diamond Garrett and Evan have a great brotherly relationship. “We are always together,” Evan said.

It’s hard to find the twins away from each other even when they are not playing baseball. “We have always done everything together,” Garrett said. “We go to the same places and everything; he’s my built-in best friend.”

As their baseball careers progress, Garrett and Evan both plan to attend four-year colleges and play baseball.

They hope to make it into professional baseball.

No matter what happens with their baseball careers, they will always have each other to lean on.

Softball: Bear Cubs lose in heartbreak Austin Burmester Staff Writer

T

he Santa Rosa Junior College softball team [9-4] lost both its games against Foothill and Butte College by one run Feb. 21.

In the first game, the Bear Cubs fought hard in their 2-1 loss Saturday morning. It was no doubt a pitching showdown between the two northern California teams. SRJC Bear Cubs pitcher, Dana Thomsen, started the game hot with two strikeouts in the first inning, not letting up the entire game. She finished the first game with 10 strikeouts, and only one walk.

Although the Bear Cubs’ pitching was on point, they struggled offensively. Throughout the game, the Bear Cub batters had no trouble getting on base with their six hits and seven walks, but it was freshman Katrina Ohleyer who scored off a walk in the bottom of the fourth inning with the bases loaded.

“We played down to their level; we had so many chances but we left runners on base and didn’t execute,” said head coach Phil Wright.

Unlike the first game against Foothill, the SRJC-Butte game was a shootout. The Bear Cubs came out

strong in the first inning, not allowing any hits and scoring a run early in the game. They had a huge bottom-third inning with five hits, two RBIs, two stolen bases and two runs. Up 6-3 going into the top of the sixth and a Bear Cubs victory just around the corner, a Butte grand slam give the Bear Cubs a one-run lead , that ended up being the deciding factor. There were 13 runs scored in the Bear Cubs’ 6-7 loss to Butte. The Bear Cubs had 10 hits that game, three of which came from freshman Denia Vera. She went 3-4 with two singles, a double, two RBIs and two runs.

“Energy was going in the beginning, which is good for us, and Dana played great, but after that Grand Slam it just went downhill from there,” said Vera.

Coach Wright didn’t take away any positives from the game against Foothill but said, “We played three times better against Butte than we did against Foothill” The SRJC Bear Cubs have seven away games out of their next ten games.

Coach Wright said “Not everyone means it when they say we have to win these next few games, but we do need to win these next few games.”

The next Bear Cubs game is at noon and 2 p.m. against Shasta College at Cook Sypher Field.

Joseph Barkoff/Oak Leaf

Top: Becca Steiner slides under the swiping tag of Foothill College’s infielder to steal second base agaisnt Butte College Feb. 21 at Marys May Feild.

Joseph Barkoff/Oak Leaf

Bottom left: Dana Thomsen wings the ball through the opposing batter’s strike zone.

Bottom right: Becca Stenier lays down a bunt to get on first base agaisnt Butte College.

6

February 23, 2015

The show is here:

Scoreboard Baseball Feb. 10: SRJC-9 Laney-3

Parker Dangers Oncken

Feb. 12: SRJC-7 Los Medanos-5 Feb. 14: SRJC-11 Los Medanos-1 Feb. 17 : SRJC-4 Contra Costa-0

Softball Feb. 10: SRJC-7 Ohlone-3 Feb. 11: SRJC-4 West Valley-3 Feb. 14: SRJC-8 De Anza-0 [F-6] SRJC-10 Yuba-2 [F-6] Feb. 17: SRJC- 5 Gavilan-1 SRJC- 11 Gavilan-1[F-5]

Men’s Basketball Feb. 10: SRJC-78 Sac City-58 Feb. 12: SRJC-78 ARC-56 Feb. 17: SRJC-60 Diablo Valley-69 Feb. 20: SRJC-67 Consumnes River-70

Women’s Basketball Feb. 10: SRJC-59 Sac City-49 Feb. 12: SRJC-61 ARC-38 Feb. 17: SRJC-82 DVC-86 [OT] Feb. 20: SRJC-59 Consumnes River-35

Sports

Staff Writer

F

or many, the return of baseball marks the start of spring. An annual pilgrimage to Arizona for Spring Training during February and March is common among baseball fans, including students from Santa Rosa Junior College, who believe that a little piece of heaven can be found through watching baseball in the desert.

Tucker Muollo, a SRJC freshman, has been a baseball fan for as long as he can remember.

“The Major League Baseball season can’t get here fast enough”, he said.

“Without it there isn’t really much to debate or get into discussions about.”

He can’t wait to see if any of the bad teams that made moves throughout the winter, such as the San Diego Padres or Miami Marlins, will show marked improvement this year.

For avid, often borderline insane baseball fans there are countless storylines to watch for as this season unfolds. Will Pablo “Panda” Sandoval enjoy the same level of success in Boston as he did during his time in San Francisco? Can Alex Rodriguez post MVP level numbers or is his career beyond repair after a season lost to a performance-enhancing

NBA All-Star weekend is back in a big way Matt Rubel Staff Writer

Opinion

N

BA All-Star weekend is back in a major way; with the revival of the Slam Dunk Contest it was the best All-Star weekend in over a decade.

Friday, Feb. 13 kicked off with the celebrity game, a showcase of movie stars, youngsters and guys who could not make it in the NBA. Kevin Hart finally picked on someone his own size when 13-year-old 5-foot 4-inch Mo’ne Davis came to play.

Although Davis had some amazing plays throughout the game, Hart had the last laugh, winning MVP of the game for the fourth straight year.

Following the celebrity game Feb. 13, was the Rising Stars Challenge.

Although it lacked highlights, No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins, showed why he’s the next big thing, winning MVP. Saturday, Feb. 14, proved AllStar weekend returned to glory.

Team Bosh figured it out in the Shooting Stars Contest, winning for the third year in a row.

Patrick Beverly won the Skills Challenge, in which was either one of the most pathetic or inspiring things to watch.

Jeff Teague blew it against Beverly, struggling with the final 3-pointer. In the final, Brandon

Knight handed Beverly the win.

Watching Irving, Thompson and Curry in the 3-point shootout make it rain was a definite highlight. Curry proved why he’s the best shooter in the NBA, hitting 13 in a row at one point. The last event was the Slam Dunk Contest. The performances by Zack LaVine and Victor Oladipo were out of this world, setting themselves apart in the first round, each scoring a perfect 50.

LaVine put on the best dunk performance since Jason Richardson--maybe even since Carter. That is a high complement, but warranted because LaVine brought down the house with a quartet of rimrattling mayhem, that earned him the win and crowned this year’s slam supreme.

Now, the actual All-Star Game became a bit of a basketball hangover after the highflying, long-range flurry of fun. There was a better chance of defense in a game of checkers.

Thanks in large part to LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, it actually was exciting. James was good as usual, but Westbrook sored 41. Poor defense really helped facilitate Westbrook’s big night and helped his west squad take home the 2015 All-Star Game title, 163-158, putting an exclamation point to the ultimate All-Star weekend.

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SRJC students give their opinions on what baseball means to them

drug suspension? The coming season promises to answer these questions as well as many others.

SRJC sophomore Noah Yaylian, who fell in love with baseball when he was four, explained that he is particularly interested in the National League West Division, which used a plethora of trades to “beef up” during the offseason. Yaylian wonders how the San Francisco Giants will respond to playing in a stronger division, and whether or not the Oakland A’s can rebound from losing so many players, and still put a winning product on the field in the brutal American League West.

Ryland Stamey, also a SRJC sophomore, said the thing he looks forward to most about the start of the MLB season each year is the relaxation it affords him. He can put his feet up each night after work and be entertained. “Professional sports in general are meant to be a source of entertainment, and allow for us to temporarily escape from lives that can sometimes be dull or troubled,” he said.

Bear Cub pitcher Vijay Patel is interested in how the American League East Division is going to shake out. “The Red Sox are very competitive and will be right in the thick of it,” Patel said. “Hanley Ramirez and Pablo

Sandoval will add a lot of balance to the lineup.”

Another Bear Cub pitcher, Garrett Hill, believes the Padres improved enough to be considered a strong contender in the National League this season. “They made some very good acquisitions with Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and James Shield.

They certainly have the personnel to compete for the top spot,” Hill said.

For the casual fan, like SRJC freshman Sierra Cullen-Riak, who will root hard for Joe Panik this season, or Giants super fan James Ferry, who looks forward to learning whether or not the Giants can break out of their recent pattern of missing the playoffs during odd years, the baseball season simply offers them something to get excited about and enjoy for as long as

Robert Marshall

part in her career. “I learned so much about motivation, commitment, and focusing on the holistic development of student-athletes.”

Hamm doesn’t see the records or accomplishments as goals but wants her players to feel proud of everything they have done. “My goal is for every player to feel that they contributed to the program’s success and they can say, with all honesty, their experience made them a better person, teammate, athlete and student,” Hamm said.

Hamm also impacted her players, like Studdert. “Tracy set an example for us,” she said.

“She helped remind me of the potential I have and of the high level I could be because I had been selling myself short and not putting in the full effort that I once had.”

Studdert also said Hamm helped her get back into the love of soccer and she made things easier to understand during practice, even getting on the field with them and showing them how it’s done. “She broke things down and made sure we understood the fundamentals before building,” Studdert said. “She is the best soccer coach I have ever had.”

Hamm wants to challenge herself every day, like she did at SRJC, hoping to be the best coach possible at the same time.

“My job as a coach is for athletes to push themselves, gain selfconfidence, develop leadership skills and learn how to compete,

it lasts.

Even for fair-weathered fans like freshman Hannah Rogers, the arrival of baseball season brings excitement, even if only because the hometown team has a chance to defend its recent World Series Championship.

As fun as Spring Training can be, it’s a fact that win or lose, the games mean nothing. Thus, opening day of the MLB season is regarded with reverence and thankfulness by fans. The whole country sits down to watch a rivalry renewed or a new rivalry born from the grand stage of America’s pasttime. ]The MLB regular season, in all of its hot-dog-munching, bubble-gumchewing glory, starts Sunday, April 5 with a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Courtesy of Bleacher Report.com

MLB Spring Training is right around the corner. The MLB season starts April 5.

Tracy Hamm on to SF State A

Sports Editor

fter three years coaching at Santa Rosa Junior College, a Big 8 Conference title and sending nine athletes to fouryear soccer programs, former women’s soccer head coach Tracy Hamm has a new gig.

Hamm, who led the Bear Cubs to an overall record of 43-165, is calling San Francisco State University her new home as the new women’s soccer head coach for the Gators.

She was at Disneyland Dec. 21, 2014, when she got the offer to take the head coaching job.

“I’m beyond excited for the opportunity to be back coaching in the NCAA,” Hamm said. “I feel honored to lead the SF State women’s soccer program and enhance its future successes.”

Hamm is the newest coach in 32 years for the Gators. They finished ninth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association rankings in 2014, with a record of 2-8-1.

“Soccer is her life, there was never a question of her commitment,” said Annie Studdert, who was on the team last year. “San Francisco State definitely got a steal by signing her as head coach before a big name DI [Division I] or national program did.”

She credits SRJC as playing a huge

Courtesy of isiphotos.photoshelter.com

Tracy Hamm is the new head coach of the San Francisco State University Gators.

all through the beautiful game of soccer,” she said.

With the new coaching gig and an opportunity to continue her success at SFSU, Hamm will never forget what she’s leaving behind.

“SRJC has very high standards and a winning mentality; it challenged me every day to be my best,” she said. “I will miss my peers, students, and athletes and want to thank them for all the experiences I gained through working with them.”

Lenny Wagner, Chair of the Athletics Department and SRJC football coach is proud and wishes the best for Hamm. “She did a great job at SRJC and will be missed big time by her players, fellow coaches and faculty,” he said. “She is going to be great wherever she goes and SF State is lucky to have her.”

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Sports

February 23, 2015

7

From underdogs to league champs

SRJC hockey team takes down UC Davis for third straight PCHA title Keshia Knight

Advertising Manager

I

f you were to ask the Santa Rosa Junior College hockey team if it considered itself the underdogs in the 40th annual Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association tournament Feb. 14-15, you’d get mixed responses.

While some players were confident in their league prowess, others worried the inability to control rival UC Davis could keep them from another championship season.

As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the team faced San Jose State University’s Division III squad in the first round Feb. 14. SRJC didn’t expect a hard game, but the Polar Bears had trouble to start.

“The first period was really disjointed, and there was a big gap in ability,” said forward Stephen Wolmarans. “We just weren’t prepared beforehand. We had guys showing up at different times; some right before the game. It was just a haggard first game. But it was good to get it out of our system.”

Despite not throwing up the usual offensive numbers , the Polar Bears beat SJSU 9-1 behind excellent goaltending from Jacob Pavsek.

“I felt really good out there. After letting in that one goal, I told myself I can’t allow another and that’s what happened,” Pavsek said. “They played a little harder than the previous game, but that didn’t slow us down, it made us work harder. I was able to see the puck, make the stops I needed, and the communication helped a lot. It felt great to get the win and put my work

Sports Star Sophie Angel

in to help win our third championship.”

With UC Davis’ first-round win, the two teams matched up for an intense battle the next day. Even though UC Davis was the No. 1 seed, had the league’s top scorers and took the season series 2-1, players were confident they could handle anything thrown at them.

“From the moment I woke up, it seemed like I had the most energy I’d had in years,” said Josiah Nikkel. “I hadn’t ever been so excited for a game.

I knew we weren’t going to lose.”

Tensions were high for most of the first period, as neither team scored for the first 14 minutes. SRJC’s penalty kill shined, getting through huge penalties to Nikkel and rookie points leader Josh Greenwell. That luck carried over offensively as defensemen Colin Ridenour slapped in a power play shot at 5:46 for a 1-0 lead. A minute later, Wolmarans tipped in the puck after a tussle in front of the UC Davis net. At the end of the period, SRJC lead 2-1— thanks in part to controlling UC Davis’ top forward Gordon Dickson.

“I just wanted to have eyes on him at all times and constantly be in front of him,” said center David Lundgren, who was one of the players charged with guarding Dickson. “I made sure I finished every check on him to wear him down as the game went on.”

As Wolmarans put SRJC up 3-1 in the second period, his teammates kept up the intensity needed to silence UC Davis. “We never gave up no matter how hard it seemed,” said defensemen Niklis Nisja.

And it did get harder.

“We made the game a lot more difficult because we couldn’t stay

If you could play any other sport, what would it be?

out of the penalty box,” said captain Blake Johnson of SRJC’s 38 penalty minutes. “It’s been a weak point in our game all year, but our penalty killers came up huge for us, especially Dom [Jones] in net.”

Jones saved 13 of 14 shots in the third period, but let by a power-play goal on a UC Davis surge.

“The end of the game was tight.

Davis was playing dirty and not getting calls for anything,” said defensemen Eric Zagacki. “We shut them down in the third period. Especially in the last 10 minutes, we controlled the ice. It was a little nerve-racking, but those are the best games.”

The Polar Bears skated away with a 3-2 victory, crowning them the PCHA champions for the third straight time since joining the league in 2012.

“Winning honestly is the best feeling,” Ridenour said. “Having that satisfaction after working all season is a really great prize. We deserve it.”

Favorite professional athlete?

How far will the Warriors go in the postseason?

Sydney Crosby

I really couldn’t tell you

Michael Jackson

Volleyball

Jaramir Jagar

Champions!

Sing like Stevie, dance like Michael

Basketball

Madison Bumgarner or Clayton Kershaw

Hopefully, all the way

Michael Jackson

All the way

Michael Jackson

Hockey Forward No. 6

Garrett Hill Baseball Pitcher Nn. 21

Evan Hill Baseball Pitcher No. 14

Do you prefer Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson?

Scottish Field Hockey

Hockey Forward No. 9 Stephen Wolmarans

Keshia Knight/Oak Leaf

Top Left: Goaltender Dominic Jones celebrates after denying UC Davis’ top scorers from stealing a win in the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association tournament Feb. 14-15 in South Lake Tahoe.

Top Right: Polar Bear freshman forwards Andrew Mason, Matt Katicich and David Lundgren pose with their first PCHA trophy.

Bottom: Alternate captain Josiah Nikkel and captain Blake Johnson win their third straight championship title in the PCHA tournament.

Basketball

Josh Hamilton, Angels

Vietnam in Numbers 2,709,918

Americans served in Vietnam

This is 9.7%

of their generation of Vietnam Veterans successfully

85% transitioned to civilian life 7,484

women served in Vietnam

of them were asigned to be nurses

83.5%

Of the men who served in Vietnam: 88.4% were caucasian

10.6% were black

1% belonged to other races

58,202 Men died in the Vietnam War 61% of the men killed were 21 or younger

of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds

76%

The number of homeless Vietnam-era veterans is greater than the number of soldiers who died during the war.

Sources:“Sobering statistics for the Vietnam war” by nationalvietnamveteransfoundation.org and “Veteran statistics” by veteransinc.org

Learning throu Continued from cover

same moment to see if anyone was firing back. If not, they would send out two men in each direction with a walkie-talkie and instructions to signal on the radio every hour, on the hour.

One night, an hour came and went without so much as a chirp from one of the sentries. The squad mustered and headed off to find its comrade. What they found was a bloody foot barely attached to a boot, and a blood trail heading into the jungle. The trail was specifically left for the GIs to follow. They knew this, Thompson said, because every few feet there was a new body part and more of the blood trail.

The squad made it halfway to their comrade, “Blondie” as they called him, and they radioed in another platoon to take over the search because this was their man. The second platoon found an arm, a leg, an arm and a leg.

“The last thing they found was Blondie’s head sitting in a crook of a tree with his manhood hanging out of his mouth, his eyes open as big as a human being could open his eyes because they had castrated him and done this to him while he was alive,” Thompson said.

The first time Thompson was wounded in Vietnam was May 31, 1968. His tank hit a mine, and the four crewmembers were bleeding from every orifice that could leak blood. With concussions, the crew limped their tank with the hatches open back to a friendly Landing Zone [LZ] that the intel said was safe. Thompson and his tankmates were left alone while the working platoon went off on a pressing matter. What they didn’t know was the Viet Cong watched Thompson and his other three tankmates from the bush.

Assuming it was safe because their captain said so, the crew cracked a beer and sat on their tank. Suddenly, from the bush came a Rocket Propelled Grenade [RPG]. It flew over their heads.

The second RPG landed between Thompson’s best friend’s legs and blew up. It blew all four men into the air, and one guy they never saw again. Though peppered with shrapnel, Thompson was hit flat so the shrapnel burned his leg instead of taking it off. He looked over at his friend Mack. Mack’s right arm was gone at the elbow, his left leg gone below the knee. His jaw was gone too, and Thompson could see white things and tendons going a mile a minute, because Mack was trying to talk to him.

Thompson looked up and saw another RPG being aimed at them, when all of a sudden, he heard “Whoop whoop whoop,” the unmistakable sound of a Huey chopper and the gunner working his M-60 to take out the VC next to Thompson’s tank, while kicking out C-rations (the predecessors of MREs, “meals-ready-to-eat”).

Everyone who made it onto the chopper lived, including Mack. Thompson didn’t get on the chopper. He stayed on the ground and moved with a squad to the closest firebase, where he was designated to be sent back to the States to recover from his injuries.

Thompson said he gave away his M-16, ammo and rations, but held onto his .45 pistol, in preparation to leave. Suddenly the Viet Cong overran the base. A woman VC armed with an AK-47 charged and fired at Thompson in his machine gun nest. She had it set to automatic fire, instead of single shot. The shots rode up and only hit Thompson once in the leg, a through-and-through, and

he unloaded four rounds into her, killing her. He trie crawl over her to get out of the bunker but, through blood and his, there was nowhere to go. He lay still to her in a pool of blood, facedown with his pistol cocked under his own chin, just in case he was discove The VC overran the base and went to search survivors. Thompson recalls hearing the VC find a G never imagined a human able to make those sounds I never imagined listening to someone be skinned al he said.

A 2012 report from the office of Veterans Aff estimates that an average of 22 vets commit sui a day. More than 8,000 veteran suicides a year confirmed and it is nearly impossible to track all of deaths. Overdoses, accidents, single occupant veh collisions are all examples of deaths that are difficu determine intent.

In 1967, Specialist Anthony Tate, originally f Chicago, found himself in court at age 17. The ju offered him a choice, jail or the army. For Tate, it wa easy choice to make.

“Do you want me to sugarcoat this, or drop is lik hot?” Tate began his presentation to Kelly-Moore’s c A warning, given with a smile, readily accepted by class to “drop it like it’s hot.”

Tate continued, divulging a brief jump ahead in with his grocery list of degrees. One AA in early childh development, two bachelors’ in sociology and psycho and a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling knows how to make a point.

“Did I hide? Yeah, 40 years. I didn’t tell a soul I w Vietnam Vet,” Tate admitted.

A product of the projects, Tate was no strange survival. He fought his way to school past three gang three different projects, to fight during recess against kids. Seeing someone fall from a 14-story project or on the street was not alien to him.

Yet Chicago did not prepare him to fight 5-yearstrapped with explosives on their chests or shoo from between their mother’s legs in the rice paddy. E Vietnamese person was a potential enemy, from 5-y olds to mothers, fathers, and all the way to the o person in the family tree.

First Lt. Kate O’Hare-Palmer, an army nurse trained in L.A. county hospitals during the Watts rio 1965, had seen gunshot wounds and plenty of trau before arriving in Vietnam.

O’Hare-Palmer told the class between 7,000 to 10 women served in Vietnam.

Freshly 22, she arrived in Vietnam and, after b awake for 24 hours, a helicopter took her to her p Along the way, the chopper was called to an emerge and needed to drop her off before they headed to t new task. The chopper left her at the top of a deso mountain LZ. O’Hare-Palmer hadn’t even been is her .45 pistol yet. She hid in the trees with her duffel until sometime later another helicopter crew cam finish her transfer.

Having landed at her destination base in Chu O’Hare-Palmer hit the rack for some shut-eye. Two h later she was awoken and ushered into an Opera Room [OR], not even able to be completely gowned gloved. Soldiers yelled at her to just get ready. The pa

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Joeseph Barkoff/ Oak Leaf

LEFT: First Lt. Kate O’Hare-Palmer shares her stories of Vietnam in Jill Kelly-Moore’s Humanities class at SRJC. RIGHT: Bruce Thompson takes aim, remembering his free fire zone aloud for Jill Kelly-Moore’s Humanities class at SRJC.

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Joeseph Barkoff/ Oak Leaf

RIGHT: PFC Bruce Thompson shows and tells the story of how he scissored himself around his best friend Mack after Mack's arm, leg and jaw were blown off in Vietnam for Jill Kelly-Moore's humanities class at SRJC. BOTTOM: Specialist Anthony Tate asks Jill Kelly-Moore’s humanities class if they want his story sugar coated or if he should “Drop it like its hot,” at SRJC.

was in a pressurized bag and had a nicked aorta. When the bag was opened O’Hare-Palmer had to act quickly before he bled out.

O’Hare-Palmer recalled gory conditions in the medical unit. “We were covered in blood. We would slip in blood,” she said.

One night, three weeks into her tour as the junior nurse on staff, O’Hare-Palmer was assigned the night shift. Her training in the ER back home helped her respond to incoming traumas. That evening eight GI’s came in with their legs macheted off below the knee.

Fifteen minutes later soldiers brought in two of the VC that did it, whom American soldiers had kept alive with hopes of interrogating them later. All were placed in the same ward.

“This is very moral issue here all of us will face, all of you will face,” O’Hare-Palmer explained. “How will you handle working with someone you do not want to be with, or you think they have done something really wrong? How are you going to handle that? We faced that every day.”

It wasn’t until later in the war the military set up different bedding units in the field hospitals for the enemy to receive medical assistance.

When she came home at 23-and-a-half, O’Hare-Palmer said she felt 105. “I only felt comfortable with other vets,”

she said. But she wouldn’t talk about it at the time, not even with her own brother, who spent tours in Vietnam as well. She didn’t want anyone to know she was a vet for a very long time.

When they came home, Vietnam veterans were spit on, yelled at and called “baby killers.” There were no PTSD-specializing doctors, because PTSD hadn’t been discovered as a real disorder. Vets were publicly punished for reporting for duty. They were treated as though they had enlisted to an all volunteer military to go and kill people in another country. This was not the case, as many were drafted to report for duty, regardless of their own views on the war.

Kelley-Moore’s ensuing class debate took place two weeks after the students caught what was dropped, hot, in their laps. In the first session, one judge voted for the anti-war argument, the next day, he voted pro-war. For the vets, it wasn’t about whom they wanted to win; that much was obvious.

“We know the story,” Thompson said.

Kelley-Moore designed the event to expand the students’ minds, and Specialist Tate let them know when he felt they did not perform up to muster in the open debate discussion portion.

After the debate, student Billy Ambrose said, “It’s hard to be pro-war, but I understand why it’s needed and

there are two sides to every story. There is no downside to understanding both sides of everything.”

Student Aja Harris didn’t know much about Vietnam, other than she has close relatives like uncles and her grandpa who fought there, but still don’t discuss it. “They aren’t open about it like these gentleman are, so this really helped me understand what they went through and just what everyone went through on both sides,” Harris said.

“Having a 2-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son, I feel like I have this information, this knowledge that I can pass off onto them.”

Student Frank Moran argued for the pro-war side, despite his anti-war sentiment. “It was a hard decision this country had to make. You can’t really make a conclusion on it,” Moran said. “It’s just one of those things you have to accept; that there are many different points on it and you can’t just stamp it and say ‘there it is.’ It’s not so much about what we believe, it’s about you have to think about it from every standpoint.”

Thompson said what’s going on in the world to day is similar to what his generation experienced in the ‘60s.

“Some stuff doesn’t change. What we hope is that your generation will do maybe a better job than we did,” he said.

“Because we kind of, I feel we kind of let humanity down a little bit, and maybe we could have done a better job. So we are going to leave it up to you to do a better job.”

Photos courtesy of BBCnews.com, vietnamcultureandcontext2a.weebly.com, 40.media.tumblr.com, cdn1.tnwcdn.com, i.dailymail.co.uk and gcveteransmemorial.org

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February 23, 2015

Features

www.theoakleafnews.com

The

Shoe Surgeon:

A man with a sewing machine and a dream

Dominic Chambrone, The Shoe Suregon, at his Santa Rosa studio where he designs unique footwear for celebrities like Will.i.am and Justin Bieber. Chambrone is a former SRJC student.

Estefany Gonzalez

I was seriously there for a half-hour, maybe an hour and I had to leave,” he said. “I just can’t go to school I guess. I can’t be locked down to anything.”

At first glance, the garage Chambrone converted into his work studio consists of a variety of giant machines, a whiteboard full of orders and dozens of shoes scattered throughout the space.

Most would assume the owner took classes to learn how to operate all the machines inhabiting his studio, but for Chambrone this was not the case. “It was mostly trial and error,” he said.

From a young age, Chambrone was fascinated with shoes, but the first time he recalls altering a shoe was during middle school when he wasn’t allowed to wear red or blue because of the colors’ gang affiliation.

“I had to wear a lot of orange,” he said. “I would color my shoes orange to match my shirts.”

In high school, Chambrone graduated to airbrushing. He would often get the newest pair of Jordan shoes before they hit the stores. The latest pair of sneakers weren’t enough for him after his friends also started to acquire them early. His need to have unique items prompted him to airbrush his first pair of shoes. “I like to

have stuff no one has and I like to get it before it’s even out,” he said.

The next day he wore his freshly airbrushed shoes to school and the reaction he received motivated him to continue. “Everyone started freaking out, all my friends were like ‘can you paint mine,’” he said. “I was like ‘sure,’ I just kind of did it.”

Chambrone realized his need to have custom made footwear wasn’t the only reason he liked altering shoes.“I love the feeling of someone else having something that I made them, and them being super stoked about it, and it being one of a kind,” he said. “After that it was just how to keep going further and make it unique and do stuff that no one else was doing.”

The problem with airbrushing was it didn’t last over time. Chambrone was determined to come up with a new way. After high school, he received his first sewing machine from his grandmother as a graduation present.

“I was making shirts and getting pieces of material and gluing them onto the shoes,” Chambrone said.

The passion to develop long-wear designs led Chambrone to take a private shoe-making course in Ashland. The school only took six students at a

Daniel Kong/Oak Leaf

time to provide an intimate learning his own business. Thanks to Fazio, experience, but he felt it was the oposite Chambrone was able to learn what for him. “I went there and I left and felt machines he would need to perfect Features Editor like I didn’t learn anything,” he said. “I his home studio to create products he It’s hard to find shoes with studs, just had to start doing it. That’s how I would sell online. leather fringe or stylish zippers that go learn just messing a “He was willing in different directions at a normal store. lot of s*** up.” to share the craft.

These custom-made shoes are worn by After enough Most people who top celebrities. The hand-made, oneattempts to alter are making shoes “It was mostly of-a-kind alterations The Shoe Surgeon sneakers on his that are my age, trial and error” does to everyday shoes are unlike any own, Chambrone they don’t want other on the market and have grabbed searched for shops -Dominic Chambrone to share [because the attention of big names like Justin to help him learn the they are] greedy or Bieber, Fat Joe and Will.i.am. shoe repair process, whatever it is,” he “I made shoes for Will.i.am to what different said. perform at the MTV Video Music machines did and At first Awards,” he said. “When I went down what he would need to get started.

Chambrone didn’t make any money there, I hand-delivered them and I met “The first guy I asked was on with his designs. “It wasn’t easy, I was Justin Bieber’s stylist and we just kind South A Street; he was at the Old giving away free shoes. I couldn’t eat. of connected.”

Russian cobbler. He cursed me away,” I couldn’t really do much, but I had a Each pair of shoes takes up to 60 Chamborne said. “He seriously was like sewing machine and I was just making hours to complete and retails from ‘get the f*** out of here. You’re going to stuff,” Chambrone said. $1,000 a pair and up. The man behind take all my business.’”

What kept him going was the feeling the shoes, Dominic Chambrone of Chambrone didn’t have any luck until it was his niche, what he was meant to Santa Rosa, 28, built his company on a he went to The Cobbler in Windsor, be doing. “It was the only thing making passion for design. where Daryl Fazio became his mentor. me happy,” he said.

The idea that school isn’t for Fazio was hesitant at first because he Having started his brand with everyone isn’t an idea many students at didn’t want someone without any prior only a small sewing machine after Santa Rosa Junior College can relate to, experience behind the counter, but high school, all his hard work paid but for the Shoe Surgeon, it’s a reality.

Chambrone persisted. The next day he off after various music artists and “I took classes at the JC for fashion, returned and told Fazio he just wanted professional athletes took notice of his pattern making and fashion studies. to look from the counter. creative designs. This attention brought Fazio found himself breaking his own Chambrone more buisness and now rule after seeing the determination the has more than 80 orders to keep him future Shoe Surgeon had. “He realized busy at his workshop. that I was actually really interested so Chambronerecently brought on he let me come behind the counter and a business partner, Kyle Riggle, so I would just watch him. He saw the he could focus on his designs. With passion,” Chambrone said. marketing help from Riggle, the pair Chambrone is thankful for all plan to expand their brand with a he learned as Fazio’s apprentice. He small shoe factory in Sonoma County. eagerly offered to help whenever Fazio Chambrone now speaks to school was backed up as a sort of thank-you children about following their dreams. for allowing him to learn the trade.

He feels the need to give back and “I asked him ‘what can I do to help spending his free time talking to kids you out?’ so I would sew stuff for him is worth it, as long as he can make a and watch him sand, then he’d let me difference in just one of their lives. sand stuff,” he said.

“I go to speak about my trade, but Though Fazio was patient, also how I got started to actually find Chambrone realized he learns best my passion and make a living doing it,” from his own mistakes. “That’s just how he said.

I learn,” Chambrone said. “He was like, Chambrone doesn’t want ‘do it this way’, but I would still do it my students to drop out of their classes way like 10 times.” or say, “Oh yeah he didn’t go to

The support Chambrone received school and now he’s killing it.” His

Courtesy of The Shoe Surgeon from Fazio was life changing because main message is for students to A selection of five of Dominic Chambrone’s favorite pairs of shoes he has completed for his brand The Shoe Surgeon. it gave him the tools he needed to start follow their passions.

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February 23, 2015

Features

www.theoakleafnews.com

Two leaders, two messages: a portrait of BSU co-chairs Craig Gettman Staff Writer February is Black History Month, an opportunity for all people to learn about the contributions black Americans have made throughout history. At Santa Rosa Junior College, the Black Student Union hopes to embrace and enhance that opportunity and spread it throughout the year.

The BSU wants to be a resource for students to learn about black culture, history, philosophy and politics within a safe, accepting environment.

The 13-member club is currently cochaired by Elias Hinit, 21, Darika Ramsey, 20, and Damion Square, 28.

The BSU was founded in the ‘60s.

“It had a very long hiatus until it had a good group of students – smart, intellectual warriors – to come together and form this much-needed organization on campus,” Hinit said. The students who resurrected the club in the fall of 2012 included Square, Mark Goitom, and Angela Webb-Pigg.

Hinit believes Black History Month is an important reminder of a complete history. As Reverend Ann Gray Byrd of the NAACP said, “It’s a reminder of how our history books do not reflect the diversity of the students they serve.”

Square, one of the co-founders of the club, has a different opinion.

“Every month is Black History Month,” he said. “It’s no coincidence that the month that was chosen to give to African-Americans just so happens to be the shortest month

on the calendar year. For all the contributions that we’ve made to this country to be bundled into one month in which we show appreciation to black leaders and heroes, I think it’s kind of a slap in the face,” he said.

For Hinit, the BSU provided a way to not only get in touch with black history, but also with himself and regain confidence. “The Black Student Union changed my life. It really enlightened me and made me a much more critical thinker,” he said.

“We follow the practices of many revolutionaries. We are working for all the people who came before us and fought for us, and the people who are continuously trying to fight for us. We’re working for equality for all people.”

Square said the club provided a way to achieve a higher purpose in life by sending five of its students to Tanzania. They put together a fundraiser and raised almost $17,000. “We broke every single fundraising record at this campus. I think we were the first student club to ever raise enough money to send a group of its own students to a thirdworld country.”

Growing up without a father figure, Square found his voice and his passion through the club. His aim is to truly change the way people think when they see a black person.

“Now is the time for change,” he said. “I’m not talking about some hopeless, grandiose detachment from change. I’m talking about radical, revolutionary change on a fundamental level.”

Square’s philosophy is that racism

is bred in one’s environment. “If you grow up in an environment that embraces racism, that embraces hatred, then you’re probably going to grow up bringing up those same beliefs,” he said. He added that if you don’t grow up in this manner, then it’s easier to not see skin color as a factor.

Square also calls for black selfrespect. “Start to love yourself,” he said. “It’s about black love, unity,

respect and power. Once we start loving ourselves, who we are, where we come from, our dark complexion… once we start to embrace ourselves and our culture, it will be easier for other people to embrace and love who we are.”

Although Hinit was elected cochair in 2012 he admires what co-founders Square and Goitom contributed. “They’re the ones who

really put it together,” he said. “They found the faculty adviser, had a great structure and taught themselves how to be leaders. They were unbelievably intelligent and were master multi-taskers. They got their goals accomplished by any means necessary.”

The BSU currently meets twice a week in the Student Leadership Center at Bertolini.

Daniel Kong/Oak Leaf

From Left to Right: Danika Ramsey, Damion Square and Elias Hinit standing proud in the Doyle quad at SRJC.

Bookstore blues: The expense students can’t escape

Daniel KongOak Leaf

A student studies his textbook outside of class at SRJC at Analy Village.

Luke Heslip Staff Writer Forty-six dollars a unit, $60 for a parking pass, $19 for health services; these are the regular semester costs of a Santa Rosa Junior College student. Then of course there are textbooks.

“Book prices are ridiculous,” said Jalen Soto, 18, SRJC criminal justice major. “As students, we pay too much.”

Soto expanded his qualms with bookstore prices. “We are college students, we are barely getting by,” he said. “Teachers who don’t put their textbook books on reserve are asking their students to fail.”

Generally costing hundreds of dollars a semester and virtually a universal requirement, textbooks are

a principle cost for college students.

Students can choose where they buy textbooks. There is the traditional campus bookstore and the modernized online book markets.

Textbook prices rose 82 percent in the last 10 years, according to a report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group surveying over 2,000 college students at more than 150 campuses across the country.

“The textbooks market is broken and students are paying the price,” said U.S. PIRG associate Ethan Senack in a U.S News article.

College Board estimates the average community college student expends more than $1,000 on textbooks annually.

SRJC’s Miguel Garcia, 19, a computer science major, avoids purchasing physical textbooks when

he can. “First step, I try and torrent them,” he said (meaning he streams content online).

Garcia said while he likes the campus bookstore, it’s too overpriced for his patronage. “The textbook store really marks up the prices of books,” he said.

Antonella Andrade, SRJC bookstore Textbook Coordinator said the bookstore generally charges a 25 percent margin on its merchandise. Their prices are determined by what publishers charge them, Andrade said.

She said the bookstore is financially independent from SRJC and they are funded entirely by their own income. Excess profits are rendered to the school.

The school also has access to the bookstore’s coffers. “This is a business, but we contribute to campus,” Andrade said.

When Garcia can’t find EBook versions of textbooks, he uses online mediums like Amazon, which usually have more inexpensive prices.

Akademos, an educational technology company, concluded in a 2013 study that on average 28 percent of college students use thirdparty online textbook providers over campus book stores.

According to the study, price was the deciding factor for most students who bypassed bookstores, with 78

percent citing cost.

Griselda Ochoa, 20, an SRJC student who buys her textbooks from the campus bookstores. “Prices should definitely be much lower, or the renting prices should be much lower,” Ochoa said.

Jesse Hayes, 20, a philosophy and religious studies student at SRJC, prefers online stores to the campus bookstore.

“I think they are very overpriced, I bought a textbook on Amazon for $10 that was $25 at the school,” he said.

Louis Henry, 18, SRJC humanities major, experienced the brunt of book price disparity.

Last semester Henry shouldered 12 units and paid around $500 for books using the campus bookstore.

This semester he’s taking 20 units and paid under $300 using online bookstores, he said.

Henry pointed to economics as an explanation of high textbook prices.

“We need textbooks to go to school, so they can charge us anything they want and we still buy it,” he said.

In terms of the bookstore staff ’s views of textbooks prices, Andrande said, “We are just as disgusted as you are. It is highway robbery, but that is not necessarily the fault of the bookstore.”

SRJC Spanish major Joy Heffelfinger, 22, doesn’t consider campus bookstore prices abusive. “I

think prices are fair. It’s a bookstore, they have to make some money right?” She said. “We pay for the convenience.”

Sam Salek, 21, an undeclared major concurred the bookstore’s convenience. “It is nice to have a place on campus to buy books,” she said.

Salek also said prices are too high for the average student.

Hunter Cornell, 32, an SRJC social behavior student outright prefers the bookstore to online options. “The prices are what they are,” he said.

“I like to get them in person, I guess I’m old school that way,” Cornell said.

Cornell utilizes the SRJC library reserve desk as well.

“My book needs are covered,” Cornell said.

U.S. PIRG reported 65 percent of college students forewent buying a textbook at one time because of its price, 94 percent of those worried the decision would affect their grades.

Hayes said some of his professors urge students to find used textbooks online and give students latitude on using older editions of textbooks, to save money.

Textbooks remain an integral resource in higher education, even as innovation makes Internet-based resources more relevant, as the prevalence of EBooks and similar programs demonstrate.

February 23, 2015

Texting and driving Consequences that kill

DeAnna Hettinger Staff Writer

I have no patience for texting and driving. Period.

I am not immune to the temptation, but I immediately tell myself, “NO,” and do so out loud. Always ask yourself before you get behind the wheel and begin texting, “What is so damn important that I am willing to put other people’s lives at risk, not to mention my own?”

The serious consequences of texting and driving really hit home with me one Monday afternoon in March 2014 during my routine check-in as the teacher for a kid’s after school chess program. The mood at the elementary school was somber. An inexplicable eerie and unsettling feeling was in the air. Handing me the keys to the classroom, the office manager spoke very softly, almost whispering, informing me their beloved music teacher had been killed in a fatal and horrific car accident.

The police said the distracted driver admitted to looking at his phone to read a text while driving. The result was a crumpled Toyota Camry, with two women in the backseat crushed to death. The Camry driver, who survived, witnessed the oncoming tragedy while looking in his rearview mirror and flashed his brake lights in an attempt to warn the oncoming car.

During class that day, I gently brought up the subject of texting while driving to my students.

Within seconds, an older boy raised his hand and said he’s seen his parents’ fiddling with their phones while driving.

The gravity of the situation was absent from the boy’s response. The kindergartners were too innocent and young to comprehend it at all. As a result of this unthinkable news, school administrators felt special counselors were needed to help the children process their feelings and emotions.

It is ridiculous of us to think that texting and driving will ever end, as people’s lives continue to revolve around their phones.

To be a part of the solution instead of the problem, when you get the urge to text or check your phone while driving for whatever reason, resist it. Do it for yourself, your friends, your family, your fellow drivers and especially for the kids.

Opinion

www.theoakleafnews.com

EDITORIAL Last semester the Oak Leaf class interviewed Santa Rosa Junior College president Dr. Frank Chong about his life and issues of the day.

It was an open-ended interview in which Dr. Chong took time to tell us about his experience as an Asian American in a position of power.

He also spoke about the expanding Mexican community at SRJC. After he left, a woman from France on the Oak Leaf staff asked me why Chong, and Americans in general, are so conscious of racial communities, and why we refer to them as the “so and so community.”

She said in France they try to integrate immigrants into French society, as opposed to the American tradition of immigrants creating communities. I explained that in America, more so than France because the U.S. is a country of immigrants, we try to maintain the identity of cultures within the greater American “melting pot.”

We concluded that both methods are reflective of our countries histories and that they both have their flaws.

This same debate emerges every February with our culture’s acknowledgment of Black History Month. Actor Morgan Freeman said in a PBS interview that he doesn’t care for Black History Month. “Black history is American history,” he said.

Freeman would be in the French vein of thought, and as my French colleague and I discussed, the downside of black history being

Ilustration by Chantelle Bogue

12

American history is that, as history has shown, blacks are marginalized in the history books. The flipside, acknowledging a separate community, can create a dichotomy between white history and black history.

The most important mission of Black History Month is to recognize that U.S. history can’t be broken down into black history and white history; more than two groups created America.

Freeman is entitled to his opinion, but by celebrating Black History Month Americans are not redefining history, as he suggested.

Black History Month is not only a way to honor the black communi-

ties’ history but also a way to correct America’s whitewashed version of it. The holiday is an important part of our national conversation; most forms of news media are honoring black history this month.

Black History Month, originally a week, was a month long celebration during the Civil Rights Movement on many college campuses and became an official U.S. holiday in 1976. Ask your parents and they won’t have any childhood memories of Black History Month. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that it quickly became a major media event.

The rumor that the U.S. government created this holiday as an apology and manically made it the

shortest month of the year is verbal diarrhea.

Critics of Black History Month, Freeman included, say it allows for all other months to be for white history. But history is not a popular angle in the modern media’s fluttering attention span and Americans are notoriously misinformed of our own history. Black History Month provides a platform for Americans to reflect on a major injustice in our history that we simply wouldn’t reflect on otherwise.

Black History Month is not about remembering what happened; it is about never forgetting, and continuing the fight for equality.

Sinister leanings: The plight and glory of the southpaw Luke Heslip Staff Writer

Persecuted for centuries and widely suppressed until this day, the left-handed have displayed remarkable fortitude and brilliance throughout our history.

Counting the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci and Alexander the Great among our comrades, the lefthanded persevered through a highly misunderstood past and continue to abide an excruciatingly right-handed world.

Discounted by JudeoChristianity as the devil’s spawn and faring no better in most other ideological spheres, we southpaws are one of humanity’s oldest pariahs, but remain a proud and accomplished group.

Despite making up less than 10 percent of the world’s population, left-handers boast an impressive alumni of political and cultural figures.

Five of the last seven U.S. presidents were lefties. Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein both favored their left hand, not to mention Aristotle.

Rock ‘n’ roll’s pantheon is festooned with left-handers. David Bowie is left-handed, as is Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath’s guitar player. Iggy Pop, rock n’ roll’s wild

child, and Genesis’s Phil Collins wield their microphones southpaw style. Two of rock’s greatest axmen were lefties, the legendary Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain.

Lefties dominate cinema and stand-up as well. Robert Redford is left handed, as is Diane Keaton.

Jon Stewart, the godfather of modern satirical news, is a lefty, along with fellow late night hosts Jay Leno and David Letterman. Jerry Seinfeld, New York’s Supermanloving, stand-up veteran is another southpaw.

The word sinister may derive from the Latin word for left, and granted Satan, Ned Flanders and Charles Manson are left-handed.

Left-handedness may have been used as a litigating argument in the Salem witch trials, and a wife’s left-handedness may have been grounds for divorce in Japan until a few decades ago.

We lefties may struggle with scissors and spiral notebooks and ink pens. We may have been branded as witches and fiends, thought psychologically inferior and socially repugnant, but still we persist with unwavering gusto.

There are numerous advantages to being left-handed, according to Anything Left-Handed, a LeftHanded advocacy and research group. Lefties are proven to see better under water and recover

Courtesy of www.english.sina.com, english.sina.com amd megacurioso.com.

TOP: Barak Obama signs all of his vetoes southpaw style, like 7 of his predecessors.

BOTTOM: Albert Einstein, Left; Jimi Hendrix, Right - Two favored left-handed alumni.

faster from strokes than righties.

We are a dynamic force in sports, notably baseball, where left-handed batters are already facing first base, and who wants to face a southpaw pitcher?

Lefties are prone to artistic leanings and visual learning.

Recent data from Anything LeftHanded suggests that lefthanders

have better memories and are superior at multi-tasking.

In spite of our historic subjugation our demographic has produced superlative representation, including Julius Caesar and Joan of Arc. So, my fellow southpaws, be proud and revel in the greatness of your handedness.

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Opinion

February 23, 2015

Make or break life changing moments

than I ever have. Looking back, I know I was suffering from PTSD and having a panic attack, unable to decipher my emotions. The other counselors came out to calm me down and sat me in the main office.

I raged about how Barb the counselor was a terrible person who should never speak of Mikey.

I see now she was just being Haley Elizabeth Bollinger honest and trying to save me from future pain. But my fight or flight A&E Editor mentality kicked in. Stay at rehab I woke up midafternoon at Azure and deal with my emotions — or Acres, an old hunting lodge turned run. I decided to make an escape. I into a rehabilitation center, hidden stole my phone back from the office Courtesy of treatment-facilities.healthgrove.com in the serene nature of Sebastopol. when they left me alone for a mere Patients and vistors pray for serenity at this altar located at Azure Acres in Sebastopol.

It was March of 2008. I was 19. three minutes. In a completely “OH f--k,” I cursed. I sat numb and angry daze, I walked returned to rehab. I finished the 30- draining oxygen from my body numb all morning in a single down the hill through the forest day stay at Azure Acres but had no and neglecting life. Everything I room looking out into the forest into a still torn world in my mind. desire to change. When I left I used touched in these few weeks became even more unmanageable as my surrounding the rehab. The whole The sun sorrowfully setting in for another seven years.

On July 13, 2014, I was arrested powerlessness against whip-its week before I was too sick to leave my face, I made it to the nearest my room. I laid in my bed detoxing highway, stuck out my thumb and for a third DUI. My choices were grew.

But my last time down the rabbit — shaking and sweating, puking up hitch-hiked back to Santa Rosa. to be incarcerated for 120 days anything I ate and unable to sleep Mark, a traveling hippie, picked or participate in a year-long, out- hole, something happened. A sober more than three hours a night, me up. He was on his way to patient court treatment program. I friend of mine called me. I told suffering from withdrawals from Garberville to trim weed. I was chose the court treatment program. him I was using and he could not drugs and alcohol. Physically, I felt under the drinking age at the time I must go to court once a week, call come over to my apartment, but a little better and I decided to start so I asked him to buy me a bottle of to listen for an assigned color for he insisted because he could hear participating in group therapy. I Jack Daniels. He did, and also gave random drug and alcohol testing in my voice that something was everyday, attend three or more wrong. somberly walked my way to the me an Oxy. When he walked in, my face was room full of other people with the He dropped me off at the corner Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week, and discolored and my lips where blue disease of addiction. of Guerneville participate in group from oxygen deprivation that day.

Barb, the counselor, assigned and Vine Hill and individual He called my sponsor and informed everyone to write about their Road.

Sitting Then a miracle counseling. her of what was happening. She feelings and share them with each down in the In the first few showed up and asked if I was other. This is what my melancholy, vineyards, I of sorts­— ­clarity, months of the willing to throw away the drugs. selfish self wrote; “The world is opened the an epiphany, court program Then a miracle of sorts — clarity, mute. I stare blankly at these other bottle of Jack and I didn’t take it an epiphany, incomprehensible lost beings, in utter confusion. began to drown incomprehensible seriously or follow demoralization at its finest occurred.

Escape is all I ponder. Wondering my agony. Just demoralization at its the rules. I smoked I realized that, if I continued using how I can, if I will. They say just wanting to erase marijuana and and draining oxygen at this rate I swallow a pill. It’ll be better. Well I the situation — finest occured. my mandatory was going to asphyxiate myself. I think I’m too sore. Torn, betrayed, my whole life — testing program made a decision as I began to worry alone, prone to destruction. That away. detected it. The every other breath about how is my only way. I can never be just I thought to repercussion of insane I was acting. I looked up at one. Contemplate life. Live to die. myself: “Swallow One day closer to nothing, nothing this pill, down the pint, lay in the using is to go to jail for a week the two people there to help me and inside. Fake joy surrounds this grapes, lose the fight.” At this point — so off I went to sit inside a my mind switched. I threw the rest hollow scene. Happy is a feeling I was drunk as hell, laying in the cell, compare myself to the other of the whip-its away. That night my I will probably never be.” I read vineyard. I looked up into the sky, criminals and gloat to myself I sponsor left me with a saying that this aloud and said I believe when my blurred vision focused in on the wasn’t as bad as the heroin addict would change my life. She said, “If I finish rehab there is no way I’ll grapes above me, and in a moment on the other bunk. When I was nothing changes, nothing changes.”

If I had died the same way as stay sober. At 19 I thought life was of lucidity I saw hope and beauty in released from jail I still didn’t digest better when numbing the pain. nature. My survival instinct kicked the severity of what I was going Mikey, it would have been tragic.

Barb stared me in the face and in and I didn’t mix the pill with the through. I tried to manipulate the Thinking of putting anyone else said, “This is probably something alcohol, which could have been program and thought if I drank through that pain woke me up. I after I had drug tested a few times couldn’t forgive myself. For what you don’t want to hear. You’re going deadly. to end up dead like that friend you I put out my thumb again and during the week, they would not I denied when I found him, I later found a couple months ago.” Images hitched another ride. This time find out. I drank one evening, lost found in myself. A desire to change of my friend Mikey, grey in the face, the driver took me all the way into control and blacked out. The next took effect when I admitted to flashed through my mind. He died Santa Rosa and dropped me off morning my testing color was myself I have a disease I could die asphyxiating on his own vomit. I close to downtown. I walked to the called - another week in jail to from. I accepted that using drugs was the person who found his body house I was staying at before rehab. sit and think about my decisions. and alcohol is not an option for me. in the apartment we shared with My two former roommates, Luna After being caught for marijuana That realization is a stark reality two other friends. It was a numbing, and Sara, were shocked to see me and alcohol, I figured I would now.

The world is not out to kill me or horrifying experience to witness a and worried after I told them what switch seats on the Titanic and friend minutes after death. happened. Spending the night use nitrous oxide — also known as any of my friends, but the choices I glared at the counselor, left the there, I drank more and buried the whip-its — since it is undetectable we make are. I have the disease of addiction, but it’s treatable and room immediately and ran into issues deeper. The next morning I through testing.

At first my use of whip-its was many people do recover. Today I the forest where I screamed louder called my aunt to pick me up and every other day or so. I thought, have a choice, and I choose to be “I’m not an addict. I can control sober. Healthy fear can bring about this.” Even with all the obvious positive changes. If a problem exists evidence of addiction in my life, in life, it will worsen until I find a I still needed to find a new mind- solution. I’m fortunate to be around altering substance to switch to. It to enjoy a new way of living, free wasn’t enough yet to realize that from the bondage of drugs and I have a problem. My denial was alcohol that were once my answer to strong and I wanted to beat the any type of grief or problem. Now I truth. My use progressed rapidly. use healthy coping mechanisms that Within three weeks I spent won’t lead me to rehab, jail — or Courtesy of treatment-facilities.healthgrove.com entire days, morning to night, most importantly, death.

Azure Acres is a rehabilitation center for people suffering from addiction.

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Confederate flag: One nation under racism Catherine Ramirez Staff Writer

Without a doubt we take the American flag very seriously.

There’s a reason why there are rules to guide the display and care of the flag. It’s not because it is a piece of cloth, but rather the values and beliefs it represents.

Lately, some young people find it trendy to wear or possess the Confederate flag as an expression of their “true country” American roots. For anyone who fully supports freedom of speech and expression, there is nothing wrong with youth expressing themselves in this way. However, for anyone who understands what the Confederate flag represents, this trend is simply insulting.

The Confederate flag was created to represent the Southern states, which declared their secession from the United States that led to the American Civil War. One of the main reasons why the Southern states sought to secede from the U.S. was the issue of slavery, thus instigating the war and creating the Union and Confederacy.

To say that the Confederate flag is not affiliated with racism is ignorance at best. What is truly frustrating about these people who proudly have the Confederate flag on their clothes and trucks while displaying the American flag right next to it —contradicting the entire idea of the Confederacy — is their excuse of their Southern pride, which most are not even from or associated with the region whatsoever.

The Confederate flag does not simply represent the South. It represents a time when the South no longer wanted to be part of this nation because it did not support the abolishment of slavery. It represents a time when people were viewed as a commodity.

It also represents a time when some Americans did not have the same basic human rights and equality as other Americans due to the color of their skin. It is a time in American history about which every single American should be ashamed. To not only support this flag and the views it represents, but also proudly wear it in everyday apparel, is something beyond personal understanding.

If any individuals are going to express themselves, at least fully know the beliefs and ideas one is representing. And for the sake of Black History Month, acknowledge that wearing the Confederate flag is viewed as disrespectful and offensive to anyone who values and understands the true meaning of liberty and justice for all spoken when pledging to the American flag.

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February 23, 2015

In the KNOW

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The female identity in the film industry

Filmmaker gives insight into the action behind the lights and the camera

A calendar of upcoming events at SJRC

Feb. 26 “Shots Fired on Campus – When Lightning Strikes”: Expert guidance for surviving an active shooter situation - Noon to 1 p.m. or 5-6 p.m. Doyle Library, room 4245, free “Universal Design for Learning” Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning - 3:305:30 p.m. Doyle Library, room 4421, free “30 Years of SRJC Printing” Gallery Talk with Kevin G. Fletcher - Noon to 1 p.m. Doyle Library, free

Feb. 27 “Moment to Moment: Teens Growing Up With FASDs” Film screening and conference - 6 p.m., Newman Auditorium, free

Feb. 28 “Matters of the Heart” Foster and kinship education conference - 9 a.m. Bertolini Student Center, free

March 2 “Iranian-American Women Writers” - 12 to 1 p.m, Newman Auditorium, Emeritus Hall, free

March 3 “First Impressions and Interviewing Skills” - 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. John Jacobs Hall, Room 116 Petaluma Campus, free

March 4 Cinema Series: “Hero” – Film 6 p.m. Ellis Auditorium, Petaluma Campus - $5 General admission

March 5 “Rift and Repair” – Anger and Conflict Resolution - Student Health and Services - 5-7 p.m.

Doyle Library, room 4246, free

March 6 “American Night” - SRJC Theatre Arts Department 8 p.m. Burbank Auditorium $10 - $15 General admission

Left: Kyle R. Schmidt/ Oak Leaf | Right: Fixtvforum.com

LEFT: Filmmaker Jen McGowan speaks about her film “Kelly and Cal” at the Petaluma Cinema Series on Feb. 18 at SRJC’s Petaluma campus. RIGHT: The movie banner.

Kyle R. Schmidt Staff Writer Like a noble and enjoyable romantic comedy, a female filmmaker is hard to come by. Jen McGowan, director of the 2014 film “Kelly and Cal,” discussed the added responsibility a woman is forced to carry in the film industry in an interview and audience participated Q&A at the Petaluma Cinema Series Feb. 18.

“There is nothing about the role that is inherently gendered,” McGowan said. “However, and

you’ll see this in the film, everyone’s experience is personal, and when you make a certain piece of work you can only express yourself.”

Michael Traina, director of the Petaluma Film Alliance and instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College, hosted the event and conducted the interview with McGowan, asking questions about her introduction to filmmaking and whether being a woman alters the filmmaking process.

McGowan, who is among the 10 percent of filmakers who are women, said there are no differences in the feminine

viewpoint in film compared to movies created by men. Until “Kelly and Cal” was released, people hadn’t realized she was in fact a woman.

“Kelly and Cal” follows the life of Kelly, played by Juliette Lewis, stuck in life and uncertain who she wants to be. As a new mother, she must learn to leave her punkrocker past behind and find a future with her husband. After she meets a young man named Cal, played by Jonny Weston, her life takes a turn for the worse as their romantic chemistry and friendship grows. The dramatic comedy is

filled with pure emotion as it hits deep matters such as finding yourself and your own identity.

“For me, this film is about identity,” McGowan said. “And it’s so funny because I didn’t pay attention to being a woman filmmaker until people started asking me and one of things that that means is: ‘What am I going to say?’ and ‘How am I going to say it?’”

Overall, McGowan reflected that women filmmakers must be cautious in their decisions and creations since everyone is watching them.

Jonathan Rinzler: The man who edits a galaxy Alex T. Randolph Copy Editor It was July of last year when Jonathan Rinzler released the “Star Wars” that never was.

Showing a galaxy very different and yet similar to the one that ended up in theaters, “The Star Wars” graphic novel is a project that Rinzler, executive editor for Lucasfilm and longtime Star Wars fan, has wanted to do since he read Lucas’ original screenplay for the first film back in 2001. Lucas originally resisted the idea until he saw a rough draft in comic book format, since Rinzler knew Lucas always preferred to see his works portrayed visually.

Rinzler has written and edited dozens of books for Lucasflim since he started working there in 2001.

His most prominent work, besides the new graphic novel, is his “The Making of Star Wars” series. Each book covers a different movie, including everything about the film from the first screenplays to shooting on the set, as opposed to simply covering the special effects that most “Making of ” books are content with.

The “Making of ” book he did in 2007 for Episode IV is his favorite work.

Rinzler also wrote a two-parter for season six of “The Clone Wars” TV show, with the intended goal of rehabilitating Jar-Jar Binks. “I’m not sure I succeeded,” he said.

He first saw “Star Wars” at a sneak preview in 1977 before the official release and it was the last thing he wanted to see. “The reputation for sci-fi movies at the time was [that] they were really boring,” Rinzler said.

The last science fiction movie he had seen was “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which went completely over Rinzler’s 7-year-old head, and he was expecting the same thing here. His parents had to drag him to the film.

Reluctantly, tween-age Rinzler sat down to watch “Star Wars.”

The movie proceeded to do to him what it did to everyone who saw it – completely blow his mind.

From then on, he was a “Star Wars” devotee.

He tried multiple times to join Lucasfilm, starting in the late ‘80s when he turned in several paintings to Industrial Light & Magic. “The last time I was so discouraged I didn’t even want to try,” Rinzler said. “My wife said, ‘Oh, just send it in, see what happens.’” It turned out to be good advice; after an extensive interview process, Rinzler was hired as an editor for Lucasfilm in October of 2001.

Six or seven months later he met George Lucas. Rinzler was working on “The Making of Star Wars Book III” and “The Art of Star Wars Book III” at the time. It was a bit intimidating, since Lucas had made not only “Star Wars,” but also had created Industrial Light & Magic and directed the movie “American Graffiti,” a movie had an even greater impact on Rinsler than “Star Wars.”

Rinzler has long been a comic book fan. When he was a child he would sit down and write his own, although “The Star Wars” was the first one he ever did officially. He is also a huge fan of “Peanuts.” He’s been to the Schulz Museum many times, and calls Charles M. Schulz a “super genius.”

Outside of Lucasfilm, Rinzler has also been involved in the making of the short animated film “Riddle of the Black Cat.” He wrote a book about the animated film “Monster House” and was associate producer on a videogame called “Wall Street Trader” in France. He hopes to write a book about Stanley Kubrick, but has yet to find an interested publisher.

Rinzler’s current project is a historical fiction novel he says he will consider his favorite work after he’s done writing it.

Many fans wish they could become part of what they love. Rinzler has not only done that, but he has also personally worked behind the scenes and has a knowledge and understanding of Star Wars that most fans will never touch.

Kissindre Grace/ Oak Leaf

Jonathan Rinzler has been an executive editor at Lucasfilm since 2001.

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Printmaking : Rebecca Dominguez Staff Writer The new Robert F. Agrella Art Gallery exhibit “30 Years Of SRJC Printmaking” showcases works

by Kevin G. Fletcher to mark his retirement from the Santa Rosa Junior College art teaching staff.

It includes various prints from a number of SRJC faculty members and celebrates printmaking at SRJC. When first entering the gallery, viewers see Fletcher’s personal collection of historical examples of various types of printmaking techniques, including a piece from the 1500s by artist Albrecht Durer, one of the first to guide printmaking into an independent art form.

After moving into the second room, viewers are able to look at works from 13 different faculty and staff members.

Angelica Blancas-Mims, 19, a gallery worker, said, “The show is just a combination of all different types of prints from etching, woodblock carving, linocuts, to monoprints.”

Not only are the pieces themselves interesting, but the work that goes into a single piece is intricate and fascinating. “With prints you have to think in reverse, you can’t just think of the way you want it because they print in reverse,” Blancas-Mims said.

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Leaving an impression at SRJC

The process is different depending on what type of print is created. If it’s a woodblock carving, Blancas-Mims said, you have a block of wood and carve into it, but if it’s an etching you draw on a metal plate that is covered with a black coating using a scriber, which is essentially a metal pen.

Many of Fletcher’s pieces are monotypes, a process of drawing or painting on a metal or glass plate and then pulling the image by pressing the plate to paper and transferring the ink.

Monotypes are unique because the image can only be transferred about twice whereas other types can be done numerous times. The pieces are intricate, detailed and although they look as if they are drawn by pencil, they are very clean.

SRJC student Damien Jones, 19, said, “It’s very straight. It’s not like sketchy or anything.”

William Smith’s linocuts were well-liked by viewers. All except one were black and white and the detail was astonishing, especially after learning that each piece has to be cut in reverse.

“It has a lot of detail and it emphasizes a lot of things we see in our daily lives,” said SRJC student Cesar Santiago of William Smith’s print “Perfecting Catastrophe.”

Every piece is likeable, whether it’s the color, the technique, or the composition.

Esther Vega, 21, said, “There are some that have really good etching strategy and they blend it, and put it all together.”

The show can expand the way people think of art and how they utilize it. “I have never actually done something like the ones that have mixed media. I’ve always stuck to just pencil, or one single thing, but I’m actually going to try this soon,” Vega said.

The gallery show will be open until March 12, with a gallery talk from noon to 1 p.m. on Feb. 26 by Kevin Fletcher. The gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 1 to 4 p.m.

Top: Catherine Ramirez/ Oak Leaf | Bottom: Craig Gettman/ Oak Leaf on Saturdays on the first floor of the TOP: A patron admires prints in the gallery that were made in the 1500s.

Doyle Library.

BOTTOM: A couple tours “30 years of SRJC Printmaking” at the Doyle Library.

A spankin’ good time

Fifty Shades of lame Don’t see this movie.

If you’re curious about it, being dragged by a significant other or actually interested, skip it. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is based off the novel of the same name, which itself was based on a “Twilight” fan-fiction called “Master of the Universe.” Sadly it doesn’t feature He-Man beating up Edward Cullen, but follows Edward and Bella doing bondage. When it gained a huge following online, author E. L. James changed the main characters’ names and had it published.

The film follows Ana Steele (Dakota Johnson) as she is coerced into a relationship with mysterious businessman Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). Steele is an English literature major sent to interview Grey for her college newspaper. Steele gets roped into this because her roommate, who is an actual journalism major, has a cold. Why send Steele instead of someone who actually studied journalism? Because then there wouldn’t be a movie.

One of the film’s biggest problems is the main actors clearly do not want to be in the movie. Jamie Dornan reads his lines like he is being forced at gunpoint. No chemistry exists between the two leads. They do not kiss so much as awkwardly press their faces together.

The actual romance is creepy.

Grey unleashes heaps of emotional abuse onto Steele. He stalks her nearly everywhere she goes, berates

February 23, 2015

her for keeping in contact with anyone else, sells her car without her permission and has her sign a sex slave contract. That’s right, for Steele to be in a relationship with Grey she has to sign a contract that gives him control of her sex life. This contract includes Steele living at his apartment and can only eat Grey-approved foods.

When Steele initially declines to sign his creepy sex contract, Grey breaks into her apartment, ties her to the bed post, blinds her with her own shirt, then has sex with her without waiting for her to say a damn thing.

But it’s OK because she said it was totes hot afterward.

Grey also spanks Steele every time she bugs him. “Bugging” him includes being upset that he sold her car without consulting her, and installed Wi-Fi in her house without permission so he can track her at all times.

He physically hits her for visiting her mother. But it’s OK because spanking is naughty, tee-hee. The normalizing of abuse in this movie is sickening.

Removed from the context of the abusive relationship, the sex scenes are oddly vanilla. Considering it’s based on a book that has a reputation for being super kinky, the sex was bland.

It was mostly Grey tying Steele to bedposts blindfolded and then the two sensually rubbing together. Rinse and repeat. He spanks her a couple of times, but nothing else. The most explicit thing is a few shots of their pubic hair.

Don’t give this trash any more money. Unsexy at best, morally repugnant at worst, “Fifty Shades of Grey” is a must pass.

- Sean Curzon

geektyrant.com, Telegraph.co.uk, Extratv.com

Top: “Fifty Shades of Grey” movie banner.

Bottom two: Screen shots from the movie.

It is hard for an adapted screenplay to live up to the novel, but “Fifty Shades of Grey” did so with its romanticism, humor and great acting from the two protagonists.

This steamy film is based on the first novel from the “Fifty Shades” series by author E.L James. The plot develops when literature student Anastasia “Ana” Steele meets handsome yet tormented billionaire Christian Grey, who introduces her to his bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism lifestyle (BDSM) and persuades her to be his submissive partner.

At the beginning of the film Steele is portrayed as a conservative girl who would rather throw herself into books than guys until she meets Grey and undergoes a change.

After meeting Grey she seemingly falls prey to his power, success and gifts, but ultimately flips everything around and becomes the powerful one. This is best seen during their “business” meeting, where she sets hard limits, spells out what she refuses to do and refuses Grey’s advances by leaving the meeting.

Grey is a confusing character with multiple personalities. During his initial interview with Steele, he is intimidating and interrupts her when she tries to ask him questions. He shows his caring side while taking care of a drunken Steele. Then his wild controlling side emerges when he ties Steele up and spanks her both in and out

of his “playroom.” Not knowing when he’ll go from charismatic to dominant is anticipating and leaves you at the edge of your seat. In the end his multiple personalities lead to barely any character development, but it raises the question if he’ll change in the sequel.

The editors could have done a better job; the movie jumps forward with the plot and the relationship between the couple moves too fast. Going from the interview, to coffee and then to their first sexual encounter in 30 minutes, this doesn’t give the viewers enough time to grasp the build up of the intense relationship between the couple.

Actress Dakota Johnson’s portrayal of Steele is phenomenal.

Johnson floats her lines rather than speaks them, making the character both an intelligent, coy and unstructured woman who’d be alluring to a man with a drive for dominance.

Jamie Dornan delivers the mysterious billionaire by bringing out his obsessive, controlling side when he and Johnson are in his “playroom” and he tells Johnson’s character what to do to please him. He makes the character believable, his acting is effortless and it’s as if Grey was a real-life person.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” is intense and brings mystery to answers we hope to discover in the two upcoming sequels. It is a film worth watching.

- Nikki Goetz

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February 23, 2015

‘American Night’ preview Craig Gettman Staff Writer In the mood for a good laugh?

Plan to see “American Night: The Ballad of Juan José.” Directed by Reed Martin of “The Reduced Shakespeare Company,” the comedy focuses on the hilarious yet insightful story of Juan José, a man who desperately wants to become an American citizen.

“Most of the play is his sort-of fever dream the night before his citizenship test,” Martin said, who calls the play both “funny” and “provocative.” During the play, Juan José meets up with several historic figures, including Teddy Roosevelt and Sacajawea. “Some of the time he’s aware that he’s dreaming, and sometimes it seems realistic,” Martin said.

“American Night” premiered in 2010 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. Written by Richard Montoya, the play focuses on Juan José, who escapes to

Tom Chown/ SRJC Theatre Arts

SRJC’s cast of the play “American Night.”

America to avoid corruption in Mexico. He’s a police officer who refuses to take bribes, so he feels threatened and leaves the country.

The play also touches on issues surrounding immigration, and the prejudices and difficulties faced by Mexicans living in America legally, but who aren’t citizens.

“They want to live here and work hard and contribute, but they’re not always made to feel so welcome,” Martin said. “[The play] speaks of the determination that these people show and the hard work. I admire their tenacity.”

The cast is small, featuring 12 actors. However, Martin has cast these actors in multiple roles. It’s a “whirlwind of actors and characters all around him during this dream,” he said.

Martin said the show has been fun to work on. “It talks a lot about parts of history that are often glossed over,” he said. “I think it makes points. Sometimes, a play can make points and you feel like you’re beaten over the head, and I think this is just the opposite.”

Martin, a playwright himself, plans to stay as true to the script as possible. “Most of what I need to know is right in the script,” he said. “I’m just trying to honor the playwright.”

The play opens March 6 at Burbank Auditorium and runs through March 14. Ticket prices start at $10.

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Astrology -Haley Elizabeth Bollinger , A&E Editor

Aries: Mars is in your aspect and

will pique your passion for adventure and activity. Don’t be headstrong and ignore obstacles that need to be completed before you indulge; they’ll make for a meaningful journey.

Leo: When given proper attention, Leos are generous to a fault.

Your extravagant personality will provide fancy outings designed to delight whomever the current target may be. Flattery can fool your ego.

Admire yourself, it’ll save a few bucks.

Sagittarius: Saturn lurking in your aspect creates a serious tone allowing for development in creating healthy boundaries in relationships.

Sagittarius’ natural enthusiasm and the patience of Saturn bring about positive guidelines.

Taurus: Taureans are all about love. Seek a point of peace like the beach, under a redwood or cozied up next to the fireplace and nourish your desire to experience love in its many forms and be surrounded by the divine luxuries of life.

Virgo: What was on the agenda didn’t play out as expected. You’re not participating in a structured schedule and staying busy; you want to opt out and sleep the day away, but living your dreams are far scene from in between the sheets.

Capricorn: Loss is always inevitable in life. You can go from a state of agony to ecstasy or vice versa.

Pluto’s charm helps transform the process into a rebirth. Whether in turmoil or evolution, acknowledge the importance of the alteration.

Gemini: Problem solving is an

Libra: Balance exercising your body and mind. It’ll motivate vast and powerful changes in your soul once your physical and mental endurance are at a peak. Plus the gym should be clearing out now that new years resolutions are slipping.

Aquarius: The future and past seem important when evaluating the next step, but with Mercury in your aspect the present will illuminate and bear gifts of subtle-sweet moments that would regularly escape the day.

Cancer:

Scorpio: Make time to be alone. Meditate away fear and anxiety - once they are cleared from your conscience, joy springs into effect. Use your newfound-mighty intuition to guide you to the next discovery life guarantees.

Pisces: A desire to take in strays, animals and humans can be a problem since Pisces tend to be empaths and feel the pain of other creatures. They also see the best in people and situations but this desire could ruin your environment, especially your couch and carpet.

ability Geminis possess. Use your strength of versatility to unweave the tangles and straighten out current frustrations. Communicating is half the reason your hair is in bunches.

Vulnerability and sensitivity can be two of your best qualities. Others may take advantage of your desire to tend to their needs.

If you are dependent on others for validation, you risk being hurt.

Surround yourself with those who appreciate your love.